Someone to Protect
by Willibaldvonsomething
Summary: Kiri has been contacted by the wizarding world after nearly 60 years. What could be so important that it feels the need to mail the Bloody Mist? Apparently a tournament. Seeing a chance for some easy money, diplomatic relations and the oppurtunity to showcase the village talent, the Mizukage accepts, sending only his best young students. AU With some HakuxLuna cause why not?
1. Chapter 1

Zabuza knew this was bullshit. Really. What else could it be? Yes yes. Mei could talk all she wanted how these people were close allies with the Third. But so what?

He'd been in charge for nearly two years now. Kiri was making progress. Slow, but steady progress. What more could he ask for?

Actually, stupid question, Zabuza thought. It'd be nice to get the last four swords back. Why? Cause the Three Swordsman of the Mist just doesn't have that same tune that causes lesser ninja to need a new pair of pants.

Sure, three is a good number. And it's a hell of a lot better than a year ago. But the swords work best together. They are tools, and every tool has a purpose. Their purpose? To incite fear and dread in every suicidal dumbass, stupid enough to be staring down a Swordsman of the Mist.

But none of that's important. What was important was the issue Mei was being her stubborn self about.

Oh how he'd love to throttle his second in command.

She was far from useless. But she definitely had her quirks. Primarily that she pushed all the paperwork onto him. If he'd known that assassinating the Mizukage and taking his 'throne' was going to result in him spending most of his day behind a desk, he might have been more receptive to that _Chidori_ Kakashi offered to shove down his throat back on the bridge.

Again, not important. He'd killed the bastard Fourth, now he had the job of patching up the sinking ship called the Village Hidden in the Mist.

Hell, if there was any indication that the leaks were slowly being plugged and the water was finally starting to stop pouring, it was that some of the Hunter-Nin were getting bored without any new meat.

Ah fuck it.. if he doesn't succeed. So what? Keep trying. Just like an assassination. Jobs not done till either you or the target is dead. And Zabuza planned to emulate the First. Live out his days as the top dog until his hair was gray, and the Seven reformed.

Who knows, maybe by that point Haku'd have found himself someone. I swear that boy enjoys toying with people far too much. But, not my problem.

"Alright. Mei. Cut the bullshit, this isn't Mizukage talking to their unofficial second. What do we stand to gain from this, that justifies sending those four to this.." Zabuza reread the letter that started this whole thing. "This Hogwarts place for the.. I can't believe I'm saying this shit. Quad-wizard cup?"

"Kimimaro is -still- not at a hundred percent... That damn slug bitch did some nice work thanks to the the non-aggression pact, but I don't want to waste one of our -very- limited protegé on this. Yes, the prize pool is substantial, but with the way the boys work we'd get just as much from regular A ranks. And they still have training to complete."

Zabuza didn't glare at the long haired, red-head before him. But he also didn't smile... Okay. For clarification, he rarely smiled. Only the brats could make one come cracking out on a rare occasion. So instead, he just stared into her, with a look he'd been getting a lot of practice using since Yagura's head went rolling. The looking that didn't imply, it flat out stated. 'I am not in the mood for excuses, so for my sake, and yours. Keep it simple.'

Who knows, a Kage that's relatively blunt may be a welcome change. Probably not. Who knows?

"Zabuza.." Good, she didn't say sir. "I understand the concerns. But we need to look at this not as a numbers game. Instead, let's look at this a little more light-heartedly. Yes, we won't be sending the boys to the Chuunin exam. Kiri has its own promotion system anyways."

The grey-skinned Mizukage had to nod a bit, indicating for her to continue. "I know you want to use the boys as a show of strength. Yes they are still technically Genin.. well.. mostly. Currently they are all Genin." Mei said with a small giggle.

"Sending them to the Chuunin exams would be showing our hand too early. The nations most likely already have an idea what we are capable of, so why bother to impress them? As for the nobles, sure we'll impress a few. But remember, we are still widely known as the Bloody Mist."

Mei leaned forward, placing her hands on Zabuza's desk as she stared him dead in the eye. If he didn't know her better, the fact that she positioned her arms to emphasize her exposed cleavage could have passed for a natural occurrence. So he kept his eyes locked with hers.

Of course she had the audacity to wink at him. Damn woman probably guessed what was going through his head. Again, throttling is slowly working its way up the list. Hell, if he wasn't one of his most trusted subordinates right after Haku and Kimimaro, he'd have taken her outside into the centre of the village and given her a spanking for everyone to see.

It'd be funny to see her try to marry after that spectacle...

Zabuza pushed his thoughts of petty vengeance out of his head once Mei started speaking again.. yes, she was definitely swaying her shoulders on purpose.. Damn woman...

"While the Chuunin exams would be a dull waste of time for the boys, this tournament with the wizards might throw the boys against something new. Think of it as situational adaptivity training. Just over the long-term. They could practice information gathering. Think about iiiit."

Mei purred the last part as she turned her body to sit on the Mizukage's desk, making a small show of crossing her legs. They both knew it was for fun, instead of actual seduction, but it still got a small snort past the bandage's on Zabuza's face.

"We'd have at least eight months to gather info. Think of what we could do. Sure, we have some info on the wizards from the time of the First and the Second, but.."

"That info is at least fifty years out of date.." Zabuza finished for the scantly dressed red-head.

"Exactly!" Mei clapped her hands together. "And if they are stupid enough to -invite- us, why turn it down? Think of what we can gain. We may not be able to use those silly little twigs, but think of the seals, the potions and every other silly thing we could copy off them! We were the only village invited, so this is the perfect chance. After all, with a cash price that could be equal to a quarter of the village's current revenue..."

-That- caused Zabuza to perk up a bit. "Mei, I don't know what reports you've read in accounting. But while yes the 10,000 galleons.. what is with these names.. once converted to actual Ryo would be an acceptable pay for a mission of this length and level, it is not that big. If it was, this village would have been ran into the ground a month ago."

He knew Mei had an idea, and now he just had to wait for her to spill the beans. The room was sealed from any unwanted attention, ninja or otherwise. So he just clasped his hands together, placed them gently on the desk, and looked into those playful green eyes.

"I'm waiting." Is what he would have said, if his body language wasn't two steps ahead of him.

"Weeell..." The kunoichi grinned. "I was just thinking. And this is just a silly little possibility of mine, since the First, and Second both made notes of it.."

Again, throttling and spanking. Both a very tempting option at this point. Zabuza sighed mentally, but kept it from showing on his face.

"Wizards are a proud, arrogant bunch for a group of jumped up civilians waving twigs in the air. And they are always wanting more knowledge.. more power. After all, with a society is as closed off as theirs, I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't want to seal it in even more."

Thus it clicked. Oh, it was a terrible idea. But still, he had to smirk. It was a terrible, underhanded and brilliant idea if it worked.

"Well, my sweet little water demon?" Mei could see the bandages shift into a small smile, knowing she'd won. See, this is why they had these talks, this is why they worked together. Give Zabuza a problem and he'll solve it in the most efficient and blunt way possible. Give it to her, and she might take a bit longer, and it might fail, but the payoff would be better.

After all, an assassin just kills their target. As a former member of both the Kiri Hunter-Nins and Anbu, Mei has to be a little more creative.

"Fine." Zabuza snorted in defeat. It made sense. He wasn't going to let his pride get in the way of what was best for the village.

Mei shot off the desk to wrap Zabuza up in her arms. It was a rather childish action for a woman, twenty-nine years of age. But she was going to take her victories, and pleasures where ever and when ever available.

"Get off me woman." The Swordsman groaned quietly as he pushed the unmarried mass of hair off of his chest, before he stood up and adjusted the strapped tunic over his mesh weave. "I'm going to go inform the brats after I get a message sent..."

"Oh! And don't forget to tell them you'll be going to that game thing. Make some friends, see the culture.." Mei clapped again as she joined Zabuza as they walked down the halls of Mizukage building.

"Politics.. was it really worth it.." Zabuza muttered to himself as he walked to his secretary. Guess he had a damn acceptance letter to write.

**An: Well, I sort of hate putting these up before I have another chapter of Lich + Vampire finished, but I really must apologize. I just keep getting ideas that aren't my other stories! Please forgive me! If not, ah well. Anyways, another stupid concept I had in my head. It'll be a rather different AU, mostly cause Zabuza said "Ah, fuck it, I got one. Might as well have a second." And picked up Kimimaro as well when he left the Mist. I've read a lot of the Harry Potter x Naruto stuff, and I find it cool (Especially the stuff by pinksamurai1014) thought I wanted to do something a little bit different than the standard x is actually Harry Potter, or y is Harry's long lost brother/sister/petdog/whatever. The stories are nice, but I enjoy variety. Cause I'm a terrible person. Anyways hope you guys enjoy. Also, writers promise. I may leave a story for a week or two, but I will be finishing every story I start. In summary, I'm a terrible person, hope you enjoy the chapter and rest of the usual stuff~ :)  
**


	2. Chapter 2

There were few things that amazed Zabuza nowadays. Hell, he could count the number of things that baffled him on a single hand.

Not because he was a genius, an intellectual who knew everything. No. He had other people for that. Zabuza was a master at delegation. He was only one man after all, so while he didn't know everything, he knew what he needed to, when he needed to.

So the fact that even at the age of seventeen, Haku still looked rather effeminate was that one thing that baffled him. The boy started training endlessly after his 'lose' to the orange brat. Not that Zabuza thought of it as one. Haku didn't lose, because a) he was still alive, and b) Haku chose the non-violent path.

Two years ago, Zabuza had a few slight issues with that. Kimimaro was perfectly fine killing if needed. Sure the bone brat was much too polite, hell even a bit condescending, but when he got in a fight, his opponents had a habit of dying.

Now, after some time working behind the desk, he'd been dreaming about for years. Zabuza honestly didn't care. So long as they didn't affect the mission, Haku was fine. The fact that he could now except that in some cases, blood is the only option for his own safety.

Oddly enough, the kid was still pure as snow. Which was a good thing? Probably. He wasn't one for philosophy, so he wasn't going to dive into morals and all that bullshit.

Speaking of the brats, what did the Mizukage find when he walked onto his property after giving his response to that damn owl. Well, it wasn't peace and quiet. So his day was starting to look up.

The Momochi Clan house was simple enough. A traditional style house in the front with a total of six bedrooms, for himself, Haku, Kimimaro and any other important guest with two bathrooms. Honestly, it wasn't much, and Zabuza liked it that way.

He was a Kage, specifically the Mizukage. He took control of the village with his blade in hand, cloaked in the shadows. So who's to say someone won't try to duplicate the event.

Sadly for the handful of glory seekers, Zabuza was the single best assassin in the Elemental Nations. Maybe not the best front line fighter. Kakashi beat that lesson back into his skull. But when skulking about and trying to kill someone unseen. He was the best.

He was getting off track again. Must just be one of those days. He always hated august. Too warm, would mess with his old wounds at times.

Anyways, behind the house is a nice low porch, perfect to sit back with a cushion to watch the sky. Or in Zabuza's current case, watch Haku, Chojuro and Suigetsu fight it out with wooden Katana's.

Personally he'd have gotten them to use real blades. But that wasn't the point.

The point was muscle training. Or specifically, trying to swing or thrust a blade when it ways hundreds of pounds. Chojuro had that part down pat, one of the few things pear boy had gotten right. If he had to go with pure kenjutsu skill, Chojuro would win out of the group of four brats.

Suigetsu... well.. he still had a bit to go. The brat had trouble lifting the Executioner's blade without assistance of a jutsu or chakra. So he was slowly but getting there. Zabuza was thinking of taking away his title as the 'Second Coming of the Demon' cause really.. he was fifteen for Kami's sake. A year older than Chojuro, and the white haired brat could barely lift half as much as pear boy.

But in sheer ability to take a beating and keep going, Suigetsu was near unstoppable. He mostly cheated with that bloodline of his, but fuck it. He was a ninja. Hardwork is the most important aspect of shinobi training. But a very close second was working smart.

As for Haku. The first of his adopted sons was a prodigy. What he lacked in brute strength, he made up with in speed and intelligence. Give the kid a week with a scroll and he'd have gotten the jutsu's memorized and combat able. Unless something happened to Haku, which it wouldn't, he was well on his way to becoming Kage level or better in a few years.

And Kimimaro. Lack of training aside, he was a monster. Zabuza looked forward to the day that he won't need as much bed rest and medication to come onto active duty. The moment the medic cleared him for service was the moment he'd be getting training beat into his head as fast as he'd take it.

"Oi! Put them down. Pear boy, and Daydreamer. Front and center!" The lightly dressed Mizukage roared, they could finish training after this. "Haku, keep running through your set of kata's until I'm done. Just cause I'm talking to these brats, doesn't mean you get a break!"

"Yes Zabuza-san!" Was Haku's delighted response. Haku always seemed to perk and redouble his efforts when Zabuza was watching. Probably didn't want to let the man who raised him down.

Suigetsu and Chojuro on the other hand just muttered their responses. Suigetsu probably saying something stupid, while Chojuro complained bout his nickname. So nothing new.

"Alright brats. Got a mission in a few days."

"Finally! Was getting tired of all this bullshit training. Wanted something actually worth a damn. Eh, Chojuro?" Suigetsu poked the nervous teenager in the shoulder, getting a nervous sound of what the demon brat decided to translate as a yes.

Well, hopefully one day Chojuro will finish growing his spine.

"So, what's the mission sempai?"

..No.. not worth it. Suigetsu will get some respect beaten into him by Haku later.

"Alrighty brats. You two along with Haku and bone boy are going to be acting as ambassadors of sorts. Ah! Shut up and let me finish." Zabuza cut Suigetsu off before the boy could start a rant on why a ninja was being sent instead of well an actual ambassador.

"Since I'm sure I don't have to explain to you what the Chunin exam is, right you damn idiot? Now shut the fuck up and listen. You four will be the representatives of Kiri at what basically boils down to a tournament for really shitty ninjas- No. I'm not talking bout you. IF you'd let me finish, I could explain."

One mental note to kick Suigetsu's ass around later for the constant interruptions, Zabuza laid out the plan. It was simple enough really. Compete in the tournament, do anything needed to win.. well aside from killing. Unless it is in strictly self-defense are they allowed to kill someone. Besides that, gather info.

Get everything they can about culture, names, techniques, anything and everything. They were dealing with an unknown.. relatively unknown government. The more info they had, the better off the village would be. Also, don't get caught. Zabuza glared at the pair, expressing quite vividly what would happen if they get caught snooping around.

Last order was to keep their techniques and knowledge of Kiri on the down low. The wizards already know that the village exists, and where it is. So talk about the markets, talk about thinks that will be useless to anyone watching or listening.

"I'll be honest with you. I may be over thinking things. But you are effectively going into enemy territory. I want all four of you brats back in one piece. The village loses you four, we are up shit creek. Everything understood? Good. Questions?" Zabuza finished before Chojuro finally spoke up.

"Yes Zabuza-sama. Are we to be going operating independently or will we have a squad leader for the duration of the mission?" The youngest of the four spoke up.

Zabuza had to chuckle a bit. Put Chojuro in a group, and he'd be quiet as the grave. Too shy for his own good. But give him a mission and suddenly it becomes less of an issue for him. He had no idea why, but it'd be worth looking into.

He had no plans to coddle the kids, but there comes a point where scars start to slow you down instead of toughening you up. He'll talk to internal affairs tomorrow and get a few more profile reviews. Sure, they had fewer people going rogue, but the last thing he needed was a ninja losing it in the middle of the village.

He'd seen what happens. It's never pretty.

"I'll be sending Mei along to keep you under control." Zabuza gave Suigetsu a pointed glare. Honestly, if it was just Haku, Kimimaro and Chojuro, he'd be fine sending them without a 'babysitter'. But no. Water boy has to go as well.

As weak as the branch wavers are, there spells are still like kunai. Throw enough of them at once for long enough and eventually the defenses are going to fall.

He didn't want to send them away, but tough choices and shit. At least he'd still be here to hold down the fort, and the rest of Kiri wasn't completely incompetent.

"She'll be staying and acting as one of the judges for the tournament. You will be leaving in two weeks time. I'll have details for your departure. Now get back to work you two. And remember. This is important. So keep you fucking mouths shut. Especially you Suigetsu. You let something important slip, and you'll get your wish of a up close and personal examination of the Executor's blade."

Suigetsu just shrugged it of, but the look on his face was all the reassurance Zabuza needed. The kid would try his best to keep his fat mouth shut. Chojuro gave him a solid nod. All the boys had learned the _Body Elimination Technique_, so even if they were captured they wouldn't give anything away.

Hopefully it wouldn't get that far.

With that thought in mind Zabuza stood up. Might as well check on Kimimaro, see if he's up for a bit of travel for a few days. It'd been a while since they'd had a 'family' vacation. Why not have some fun with it? After all, he wasn't going to be paying.

Now to tell the 'kids'. Lovely.

* * *

Zabuza wasn't impressed with the offered form of transportation, and judging from the looks of his companions, they weren't impressed either.

Haku had that small gentle smile he always wore. Years of practice, and the 'blessing' of a slight frame made it damn near impossible to guess the frail little girl was a protegé of the Hidden Mist. What? It's not like Zabuza was going to reprimand the kid. It was too funny to see the reactions, and it was too useful a distraction to let go. Besides, if Haku was happy and comfortable in women's clothing, what right did he have to tell him off?

As for Kimimaro, he just looked bored. Poor kid, getting dragged out of bed and medical leave for a field trip being lead by an old man in a Kami awful blue dress who appeared in the middle of Zabuza's office with a loud crack.

The sound left Zabuza with two options. This was either his way to getting to.. ya, not worth it. England or something. Whatever. Or the man was an assassin. If so he was the shittiest assassin the Demon of the Hidden Mist had seen in a long time.

"Ah, I do apologize if I kept you waiting Lord Mizukage." The Old man said with his eyes seeming to sparkle. That couldn't be natural.. Probably a low-level Genjustu. I'll break that once his back is turned.

"Don't worry. You are a few minutes early. Now, would you mind explaining how you are going to take us a few thousand miles, or will we be standing here like morons with our thumb up our ass?" Zabuza drawled, keeping his eyes locked on the old man for any sudden movements.

Sure Zabuza didn't have his signature weapon in hand at the moment, but a quick bit of chakra into his palm and Beardy would be dead before he could blink. Kami bless storage seals.

"Of course! Now if you each of you would just put a hand on this.." The Old Man took a broken pocket watch out of a fold in his robes.

Now Kimimaro was glaring at the 'wizard'. Probably wondering if this is some sort of insult to Zabuza-sama. But before he could voice those thoughts, Zabuza raised a hand to silence him, getting a nod. Still, the damage was done, and Zabuza really hoped the rest of the day would pass without issue.

Zabuza loved Kimimaro and Haku as if they were his own children, but while Haku would lay down his life for Zabuza, Kimimaro didn't tolerate disrespect to his adoptive father.

Really, the Momochi's were a weird family, even by the skewed standards of the Elemental Nations.

"Thank you for taking time out of your day to accompany us Sir." Was all Haku had to say. The fact he was giving that playful and innocent smile meant his feelings were similar to Kimimaro on this entire meeting. Oh children.. hopefully they'll learn that ignorance doesn't mean disrespect...

With that out-of-the-way, the trio of Shinobi each put a hand on the device, while the Old Man started to explain exactly what it was. Portkey or something. Once he heard that it allowed for teleportation over great distances, Zabuza had to smile. If the four brats could bring any technique or item back to the village at the end of the assignment, he hoped for this one.

Just think of the advantage they could have from logistics alone. Men and women could be taken to and from the front lines at an instant, and if it worked for objects then supply lines would be ambush proof. Zabuza didn't have a high opinion on wizards from what little he'd read about them, but if they had any more items half as good as this, then they'd be a useful tool to protect the village.

Eventually the Old Man quit his rambling and checked his watch... well the one that was working, not the piece of junk the Shinobi were holding before he started to count down from ten. Kimimaro and Haku gave Zabuza one last look, asking if what they were doing was right.

Personally, he couldn't blame the brats. All this wizarding business was weird as hell, but if they were a tool that could serve the village, he'd accept some of their quirks. So Zabuza just nodded reassuringly.

Regardless of what they were up against, the brats would be getting home safe and sound. Even if he wasn't. Was the last thought going through his head before the world seemed to squeeze in and everything went dark.

* * *

Harry was finally starting to enjoy his summer. No more Dursleys, no more 4 Pivet Drive. No, now he could spend the last two weeks of summer with the Weasley's, some actual decent people. The fact Hermione would be around was icing on the cake.

Bill and Charlie were rather cool in their own way. Bill talked about his job as a Cursebreaker, telling the Golden Trio about the tombs and burial sites he'd been to along with the people he met. It took a bit of pestering, but he also taught the boys a few defensive hexs, while Hermoine learned how to examine curses to break them herself.

The boys didn't join in on those little lessons cause it felt too much like schooling. Ah well, their loss.

Charlie meanwhile spent his time talking about the various creatures he'd seen in Romania. Specifically the dragons. He went on for hours, but no one felt like stopping him. After all, he was talking about -dragons-.

But now, now the entire Weasley family including Harry and Hermione was standing outside of the Burrow, waiting for Dumbledore to arrive with the foreign dignitaries that Percy had warned the family about... Well, more like threatened and begged for everyone to be on their best behaviour with.

Apparently it was the leader of a magical community that hadn't been in contact with Wizarding Britain in over fifty years, and they needed to make a good impression. Something about this community having magic that normal wizards had never seen.

Eventually the assembled group saw their guests in the distance, and once they were close enough Harry had to suppress a small laugh, and muggles thought wizard fashion was weird.

Dumbledore lead the group, talking to the man beside him. He looked to almost as old as the twins, if not a bit older, but what put Harry through a loop was his hair. It went down to his shoulders and was as white as Dumbledore's beard, while being held out of his face in two tight pony tails with little blue tubes. He had two scarlet dots on his forehead.

Ron was a bit confused as well, if it wasn't for the dots and weird hair, he'd have joked bout Harry having a cousin, white the same green eyes and pale skin, but he kept his mouth shut, remembering what Percy said. The fact the boy was only a couple of inches shorter than Dumbledore also kept him quiet, since he didn't look all too happy.

Hermione took the time to examine his dress. The stranger wore a loose-fitting, long-sleeved, light grey, zip-up shirt, along with black cargo pants that stopped at the knee. The rest of his legs were covered in bulky bandages, with plain black sandals. The most interesting part of his attire was the deep blue bandana loosely wrapped around his neck with a metal plate prominently displayed. Etched into the plate was four squiggly, diagonal lines.

The bushy haired teenager had a feeling she'd seen those symbols before.. she'd have to ask the ambassador's later, and if that didn't work. Dumbledore or the library. One or the other would have answers.

Following behind the white-haired boy, was a black-haired girl. She was a head smaller than the boy with long flowing black hair that would cover her brown eyes as she walked, while another bit was held in a loose pony to the left of her face.

Harry had to swallow a lump in his throat, she was a beauty with the pale skin, light-pink lips and perfect skin. The small set of earrings in her left ear added a sense of.. was it a sense of danger, or mystery? The Boy-Who-Lived didn't know what, but it certainly caught his attention.

The other person staring was one Ronald Bilius Weasly. Primarily at the outfit that served to hint at the girls curves. A long white scarf, loosely wrapped around her neck while the ends trailed down her back. The full body jumpsuit without anything to hide her pale shoulders, or the odd spiral tattoo that went down all the way to just above her knees. Finally the pin-striped arm and leg warmers that hid her frail, delicate frame, along with the small sandals that cradled her feet.

Ron didn't think she looked like a princess, but she had the air of a respectable lady and walked with a subtle grace that he'd never seen before. Kind of like Mrs. Malfoy, but not as git like as the lady snake.

Ron froze when he caught the girl's eye, she'd notice him staring, but instead of turning her nose at the youngest Weasley boy, she gave him a smile that warmed him to the core. Oh he thought he was in love.

Little did he know Harry, who was standing right next to him, doing the same, thought the smile was for himself and had similar thoughts.

Hermoine just sighed at the boys reactions, wondering why they were getting so worked up about a new girl, even if she was rather pleasant on the eyes.

Haku, well. He just giggled. The looks he was getting weren't rare, but it was always fun to play with people, and being mistaken for a women was one of his favourite games.

The final member of the group was also the tallest though whether it was from his odd blue and white hat, or from himself was still unknown. The cloth strips and low rim kept the waiting hosts from getting a good look at his face, though it seemed he wore bandages from his nose down to his throat. What kind of weirdo does that? Was the collective thought of the wizards.

A weirdo that could kill every wizard insight without a hint of remorse, that kind. But no one let that piece of info slip. After all, where would the fun be in that?

Instead they just looked over his outfit from a distance. He wore a mesh one piece, similar to a women's swimsuit under a deep blue vest with white lining. For some reason he also wore a white cloak over his shoulders, seemingly to hide the leather arm-guards covering his biceps. His pants were baggy and a slightly lighter shade with a white cloth belt. Hermoine and Mrs. Weasley blushed a slight shade of red when they noticed how low the pants were.

They had to guess magic was involved to stop the fabric from just sliding off. They were partly right, it was chakra, but still.

Finally the group of four stopped in front of the Burrow, allowing everyone a better look at the man with the hat. His skin had a grey tint to it, with short, spiky black hair hidden under his hat. Funny enough, he seemed to have a matching earring to the girl's in his right ear. A small ring at the top of the ear, and a little strip of metal down at the bottom.

Hermione had to wonder what the simple on his hat meant, it looked familiar. Like Chinese or Japanese.. another small mystery. Lovely. The fourteen year old had to smile, she always enjoyed a puzzle.

"Ah thank you again Molly for volunteering to house our guests. Those idiots at the ministry are tied up with something terribly inconvenient and had to ask me to help. I do hope I'm not being a bother." Dumbledore said while shaking Mrs. Weasley's hand in gratitude, mentally berating Fudge for doing something as treating an ambassador as if they were a last-minute thought, even if it was true.

"Oh don't worry Professor, it is a pleasure to help." Mrs. Weasley smiled back, she was honestly excited to help the old wizard, and happy to meet a new group of Wizards. A quick look at the teenagers of the group told her to make plenty for dinner. The children didn't look malnourished, but she could definitely help put some pounds on their skinny little bones.

"Good to hear. Good to hear. Now, for introductions I believe?" Dumbledore nodded as he turned to his side. "This is Zabuza Momochi, Lord Mizukage from the Village Hidden in the Mist of the Elemental Nations. He was recently contacted by the ministry after decades of silence between our two countries and is looking to understand Wizarding culture, so we invited him to the Quidditch World Cup Finals."

Hermione could have sworn she'd heard that word before.. along with the place.. hm..

The man in the conical hat bowed his head slightly but didn't say a word, allowing Dumbledore to continue. "And to his right is Kimimaro Kaguya Momochi, his youngest child." The white-haired teen just glared at the old man and assembled group, giving the Golden Trio and a few other of the youngest wizards to have had the displeasure of meeting Draco Malfoy the same feeling as being stared down by the blonde pure-blooded prat.

"And to his left Haku Yuki Momochi, his oldest. I do hope we may all get along for the future cooperation of our two nations." Dumbledore finished with a clap of his hands and a small smile on his face. Zabuza had to hand it to the old bat, he had the grandfather act down. Haku bowed in greeting, before giving the assembled group his best smile.

Kimimaro just snorted and mumbled something under his breath, getting a mental chuckle out from the his fellow ninja who heard him, though Zabuza hoped that none of the wizards would fall for it. Kimimaro meant well, but the last thing Zabuza wanted right now was a headache from dealing with politics.

Sadly enough, the second shortest of the red-headed brats didn't seem to have a filter between his brain and his mouth, so he scowled up at the taller ninja. "Got a problem with us? If so, just say it, instead of being a git."

Neither of the three ninja's knew what 'git' meant, but Kimimaro simply smiled down at the child, before speaking as politely as possible. "I do apologize for my behaviour. I just believed that as a visiting diplomat, we'd be given accommodations befitting Zabuza-sama's status. I apologize if I seem rude but-"

"Brat, shut your face before I send you back to the hospital early. We have slept in places far worse than this, with people far less friendly. So leave it alone." Zabuza interupted before Kimimaro could really tear into the Weasley's.

Haku just kept quiet and smiled, getting ready to mediate if necessary, while Kimimaro spun on his heels to face his father.

"Zabuza-sama. Don't you see that this is an insult. Yes, we have slept in worse places, but that was before you were Mizukage. You are the leader of our village! You fought hard for your title! You shouldn't be sleeping in some slanted house in the middle of nowhere! First it was sending us this weird old man with a piece of trash to get us, now this? How long are you going to let them disrespect you like this?!" The bone-user yelled, getting a few cross-looks from the wizards.

Mostly it was the insults to the family home, but the fact this child was insulting professor Dumbledore wouldn't slide by them. Speaking of said old man, he was about to jump in and end this argument as best as possible before he was beaten to the punch by Zabuza.

Zabuza's fist connected with the side of Kimimaro's head, letting out a dull thumb as flesh hit flesh. Zabuza stared at Kimimaro, who knew he was going to get a tongue lashing.

"Brat, we are guests of this nation, and this house. Your concern is appreciated but unneeded. I took you along with this trip because I believed you could use the experience and training. You are a member of the Hidden Mist. So damn well act like it, before I send you home to learn with the other brats. You are a damn adult, so keep your damn mouth shut. IF I have an issue with my accommodations, -I- will mention them. I don't need you to fight my battles for me. Do I?" Zabuza roared, causing most people to take a step back at the volume, while Kimimaro flinched as he gazed at the ground.

"No sir.." The teen mumbled.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I, or our hosts heard that." Zabuza glared at the teenager.

"No sir. You do not need me to fight your battles. I apologize for my actions sir. I didn't mean to embarrass you or the village. I will accept any punishment you wish to give me without complaint." Kimimaro bowed before Zabuza as he spoke louder.

The Demon of the Mist had to chuckle. "You would take any punishment I gave you without complaint regardless, since you are like that. Instead, I want you to apologize. Honestly, to these people. You will be as much help as you can to them through the duration of our stay and finally... hm.. Haku would you want to take over his training for the week, or will I have that _pleasure._"

Haku giggled, shooting Kimimaro a look once he was done. "Well Zabuza-san, I wouldn't wish to deny you the fun. But I believe you were sent here for a small vacation and I don't want you to stress yourself with punishing Kimi-kun as well as dealing with the ministry, so if you wish, I will gladly accept."

Zabuza grunted his acceptance before looking back at Kimimaro, who got his message as well.

The Bone user turned slowly before getting on his knees before the Weasly family plus two, pressing his forehead to the dirt. He spoke loud and clearly. Thank Kami for that 'translation' spell or this couldn't be possible.. then again without the spell no one would have understood Kimimaro's insults.

"I sincerely apologize for my words. I was out of line, and incorrect. I let the stress and excitement of travel get the better of me, acting in a rude manner not befitting a proper guest or a member of the Mist. I can not take back my words, nor do I deserve your forgiveness, but I still ask for a chance to prove myself."

Zabuza grunted again, hopefully the kid would get used to it. He or Haku may one day be Mizukage, so the brat would have to learn at least how to -act- humble at some point. "And may I apologize as well. My children respect me a little too much in my opinion and will sometimes act rashly. I should have realized the brat's temper would have caused problems, but I let it get out of hand. I am sorry." Zabuza bowed his head.

Molly stood there blinking, along with the rest of the wizards. The heated voices had been rather stunning, along with Zabuza's display of violence. Everyone had heard the fist connect, and it sounded like it hurt, but the teen took it without blinking.

"I.. um.. accept your apology Mr. Momochi and Lord Mizukage. I'm sure you are just tired. I know using a portkey for the first time can be disorienting and uncomfortable. I'm sure you didn't mean anything. Now please stand up, young man. You are getting those clothes dirty and I'm sure you'd rather not have to clean them off." Molly smiled down at the boy in a motherly way.

Kimimaro stood up, lightly dusting off his knees before bowing again. The children still weren't entirely pleased with the stranger's apology, but they kept quiet since he'd actually apologized and now didn't look like such an angry prat. Instead he just looked tired. The Golden Trio plus the Twins and Ginny hoped he stayed that way.

"Professor, if it wouldn't be too much of a hassle, I don't believe we have been told the name of our hosts, would you please be so kind as to enlighten us?" Haku smiled at the man while Zabuza gave Kimimaro one last light smack to the back of his head as a final reminder for his stupidity.

"I do apologize. I was just lost in thought about the final preparations for this year after the argument as well as looking at the clouds. It is a rather nice day after all." Dumbledore said, further cementing the growing opinion in the ninja's that the old man was either legitimately senile, or he was playing stupid. Even the greatest ninja has their quirks, and they guessed that applied to wizards as well.

"This beautiful young women is Molly Weasley, and the handsome young man next to her is her husband Arthur Weasley. They are old students and friends of mine, so I know they'll give you the best treatment the wizarding community has to offer." Dumbledore finished with a chuckle. He rather enjoyed calling other wizards young. Not that he hadn't earned the privilege though.

Long ago Dumbledore learned that really old wizards don't get that way by being easy to kill, thankfully he had the Elder's Wand, and knew of its curse, so he had every intentions of being prepared for the inevitable. But that's a story for another time.

The trio of ninja's bowed their heads. "It is a pleasure. And thank you for hosting us on such short notice." Oh Haku, always so kind and nice, usually.

"This is Bill, Charlie, Percy, George, Fred, Ronald and Ginny Weasley." Each of the red heads was motioned to at their appropriate name, getting another set of polite nods.

"And these two are Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter. They will be joining you at the Quidditch World Cup. Everyone here is a proud student or graduate of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy, so if you have any questions regarding magic during your state, I'm sure they'd be able to answer them. But for now, I'm afraid I must take my leave. Good day everyone."

Dumbledore turned and bowed to the ambassadors. As of now he just wanted to be polite and try to not drag another magical community into Britain's mess. Voldemort was a British wizard, and the problems left over from his reign would be dealt with, by British wizards.

With the mess temporarily dealt with, Dumbledore disappeared through his use of Apparition, getting a few glances from the ninja's. It didn't seem as fast as the Yellow Flash's _Flying Thunder God, _but it could still be useful. Kimimaro and Haku both locked that thought away for later when they had time for questions.

"Well, who is hungry? I was just about to make lunch if you or your children wanted anything to eat Lord Mizukage." Molly clapped her hands as the rest of the family started to make their way inside.

Zabuza nodded. "Thank you, we would love to." He followed along as Molly turned to head in, but made sure to stop long enough to look at Haku and Kimimaro. "After lunch you two brats are to begin training. Kenjutsu and Taijutsu. You both still need to get the basics down." Is what the bandaged Mizukage said.

But what his two children heard was. "After lunch, Haku is in charge of beating you into the ground Kimimaro. You are only allowed to use Kenjustu and Taijutsu cause I still do not trust these wizards. Specifically you are to use forms taught to academy brats. We are hear to gather information, not give it out."

"Of course Zabuza-sama." Kimimaro nodded, his expression gone neutral. Training with Zabuza was brutal, he didn't allow any slacking, and would hammer the techniques and knowledge into you like a blacksmith forging a sword. Haku on the other hand.. for all his gentle nature, the kid could be very sadistic if needed. And he always felt that his sadism was needed during training. Now he really was regretting his earlier out burst.

"Now now Kimi-kun. Don't worry, I'll be gentle as always. But I have a small question." Haku chided his slightly younger brother.

Zabuza just grunted in response.

"I was just wondering if we were to share our culture. I don't want to overwhelm them after all with constant chatting about home, Zabuza-san." Haku finished with an embarrassed smile.

"Don't go overboard brats. I'm sure they are curious, doesn't mean you can talk their ear off." Zabuza responded to the implied question with his coded answer. They were to keep quiet about as much as possible regarding ninjas or their techniques, and if asked compromising questions lie or give half-truths, nothing that could compromise the villages safety.

With a short nod, the trio of ninja's entered the house. Oddly enough it seemed larger on the inside than it appeared. Well, that's another question for later.


	3. Chapter 3

Kimimaro was not having a good time. When he originally accepted the invitation to join his father and brother on a diplomatic mission, he'd agreed whole heartedly. It was a chance to get out of the hospital, to see the world like old times. Best of all, it was a chance to see Zabuza-sama act as Mizukage.

Not the boring kind, but as The representative of Mist. Sadly he had just had to lose his temper and get a lecture. He embarrassed his village.. honestly he deserved everything and anything Haku was going to throw at him later for making a scene. But still, he felt his complaints were valid.

Yes, the place was clean and well-kept. Kami, he'd even admit it gave this feeling of 'being home'. But it wasn't fit for an ambassador. Especially for Lord Zabuza. If this was how wizards treated their prospective allies, Kimimaro had to wonder how they got any in the first place.

You pamper the diplomats, soften them up for negotiations. You want them to be your friend, so you treat them like the best of friends. You want them to feel like they can trust you, like they owe you for the special treatment. What you don't do is dump them in the middle of nowhere with Kami damned civilians.

Either these wizards were so sure in their superiority that they didn't think anyone else could harm them, or they were just plain stupid. Probably just the over inflated ego of the former, mixed with the later. Oh he couldn't wait to show these wizards how wrong they were.

At least the food was good.. That was one of the few positive aspects about the trip, aside from some personal time with his family. Kimimaro sighed as he took another bite of mashed potatoes. Hopefully Haku's training could distract him during the trip so he doesn't lose his cool again.

Also, Zabuza-sama would only be around for another two days, so least he wouldn't have to suffer much longer. Small victories. Take them when you can get them.

* * *

Haku on the other hand was rather enjoying himself. Harry and Ron were stumbling over each other for his attention , talking about their school, spells they've learned over the years, and things they've done.

It wasn't like the ice ninja was going to stop them. If they wanted to feed him information about everything and anything, why stop the poor souls? Also he found their slight bickering rather cute, in the same way puppies playing tug-a-war with a bone is cute.

That's not to say it wasn't informative. With a few well placed questions, innocent comments here and there, he kept the conversation going in the direction he wanted, mainly useful information instead of funny anecdotes.

The boys didn't seem to mind though. They talked about their adventures in the first, second and third year, what creatures they met. Personally Haku wanted to see if a basilisk could be tamed. He was sure with enough time and research a jutsu to speak snake could be managed. Kami, they'd probably just need to find someone with the snake summoning scroll and it could be finished within the month.

Finally lunch was concluded after a brief, but polite struggle between Haku, and Kimimaro against Mrs. Weasley. Yes, they were being properly fed. Yes, her cooking was delicious, but no. They could not have -another- plate. It took them a few minutes, but they managed to escape the table and head outside, with Kimimaro politely offering if they wished to watch.

Not because he wanted to be polite, but it'd raise fewer questions later. After all, who gets suspicious of an open invitation? If you guessed the smart or paranoid, go grab yourself a cookie for being correct.

Zabuza stood to the side with the Weasley's and other guests, arms crossed as if to judge the training. Well they were going to open up with a small spar regardless. So maybe he would be.

"Kimi-kun. I do wish to remind you, you are still not at full health, so do not strain yourself too far. We wouldn't you to spend the remainder of the trip bedridden, now would we?" Haku gave his sugary sweet as he stopped at one end of the clearing. Since they were only to use Taijutsu and Kenjutsu, they wouldn't require a lot of space to avoid damage to the environment or people.

"Thank you for your concern Ha-kun, but that does not mean you should hold back. I am a member of the Hidden Mist just as much as you are, and I wish to be treated as such, regardless of my condition." Kimimaro smiled right back, he knew he was in for an ass-whooping, but he was going to take it like a man.

"What does he mean Lord Mizukage? Is Kimimaro ill?" Mrs. Weasley asked, motherly instincts taking over as she looked at the white haired boy. She turned her head to Zabuza who kept his gaze focused on the clearing, or specifically the occupants.

"Until a year and a half ago Kimimaro suffered from a life threatening bone disease. Until that point, people could only slow the progress of the disease. Do not worry Weasley-dono. He is a tough brat, and it'll take more than a bit of training to injure him. If I felt his life was in danger, I would have left him in the village. Now please, stand back and enjoy the show."

Zabuza's voice was devoid of every emotion aside from pride as he finished 'talking' to his host. "Enough chatter brats! I'm getting impatient, and unless both of you wish to fight me as well, you will get into your stances!" He roared, letting himself vent slightly from being stuck on diplomat duty for now.

Both students nodded, each focusing a miniscule amount of chakra into a sealing array tattooed onto their body. One puff of smoke later, and a katana in its sheath strapped onto Kimimaro's back with a round, white object tied to the hilt. Haku mimicked his actions, but his puff of smoke was lower, revealing a similar katana tied to his waist, held parallel to the group.

Oddly enough to the gathered witches and wizards, Haku also had a similar round white object tied to the hilt of his katana. Both bowed to each other while they untied their masks without looking.

Haku placed his mask on first. It was a smooth white oval with scarlet snowflakes dancing across the lower half in place of a mouth along with thin, curved eye holes and Kiri's symbol etched on top. "Snow, reporting for duty, sir." The ice shinobi held himself in a stance that looked relaxed to the civilians, but to Kimimaro and Zabuza, it was the stance of an assassin at rest, ready to strike at any moment.

Kimimaro's mask was of similar shape, but with a human jaw bone painted on the bottom half in a deep red. Like his brother's, the eye slits were slightly curved, and Kiri engraving, but in addition, his trademark scarlet dots in place of his eyebrows. "Bone, reporting for duty, sir." Kimimaro held himself in a similar manner to Haku, getting ready to draw his blade the moment the signal was given.

Zabuza nodded, before Hermoine took her turn to interrupt things. "Sir, if I may ask. Why are they wearing those.. masks?" The elder children and Weasley were also about to ask, mostly because Kimimaro's mask was similar to the masks of the old Death Eaters, not that the ninja's knew that.

Oh how the Mizukage wish he could just ignore the question, but he was to make positive relations. Since he couldn't say that Haku and Kimimaro were both Hunter-nin, tasked with finding and killing traitors to the village he told them a half truth.

"It is traditional attire in our village, as well as training. The mask has blind spots that the wearer must compensate for through their other senses or skills. As for the titles I am about to announce, they are just another tradition. At a certain age they can choose or be given nicknames. Any other questions Granger-san?"

Zabuza gave said witch a sidelong look, who just nervously shook her head. "In that case. In an official spar between peers, with the Fifth Mizukage Zabuza Momochi as acting judge. The match shall be between Haku of the Ice, against Kimimaro of the Dead Bone Pulse. Are the fighters ready?"

Both nodded their heads slightly, eyeing each other as they both made the last adjustments to their hidden chakra weights. What? It'd be a lot easier and much more practical to fight when being weighed down with an extra hundred pounds on each arm and leg, instead of just holding back and putting on a show. It was supposed to be training after all, and just going through the motions only teaches stagnation.

"Begin!" Zabuza yelled, grinning a bit. It was rare he got the chance to see Kimimaro fight, with his busy schedule, and Kimimaro's on and off trips to the hospital.

With a speed that caused the wizard's jaws to drop, Kimimaro charged forward. He had the advantage in Taijutsu, and he hoped to use that for as much as it was worth.

Sadly for him, Haku had other ideas. With a flick of his wrist the bone user was forced to halt his charge as Haku's katana swept across Kimimaro's chest, drawing a small line of blood from Kimimaro's chest. Normally it'd have been blocked by his bloodline limit, but Kimimaro was being forced to give up his greatest advantage against the lightning fast monster that was Haku.

The ice ninja took advantage of his opponents brief stall to take another swing, managing to get two more shallow cuts onto Kimimaro's chest before the younger fighter managed to get into his rhythm, dodging and ducking three strikes for every one didn't.

It took him a minute, but Kimimaro finally got a chance to draw his sword as Haku jumped back, flicking his arm. With a flash of steel, Kimimaro swiped the senbon out of the air. Good thing too, since any one of them hitting would have paralyzed a limb. Specifically his arms. Haku's a nice person, but never let it be said that he won't hold back to win.

What followed for the next ten minutes to the ninja was a slow and deliberate chess match in the form of blades. The weights held back Kimimaro's overpowering strength, while reigning in Haku's speed to manageable portions. Being forced to the same physical level, much less the level of mid range genin forced the ninja's to think tactically, having to think two steps ahead of their opponent, since they could no long play to their strengths.

To them, it was an interesting lesson in reading their opponent. To the spectators, it was simply watching a pair of teenagers, barely older then the twins go at each other with weapons, not seeming to care about the injuries taken or inflicted. The fact it was a struggle to see follow the movements of Haku and Kimimaro at times also threw them off.

They moved as if trained from birth, dodging blows the wizards thought would be lethal, hitting with swipes thought to be missed, or when Haku felt like being mean ducking and blocking needles thrown too quick to see.

"Alright brats!" The teenagers stopped the instant Zabuza spoke, the tip of Haku's blade gently pressed against Kimimaro's throat, a single drop of blood running down his neck. Not to be undone, Kimimaro's blade was held at the center of Haku's chest, ready to be driven into his heart.

"I'll call it a draw for now in Haku's favour. Haku, you are still to damn passive. Your aim with senbon is nearly impeccable, so damn well use it. Don't forget that there are more targets than center mass and the arms. Try to get into the habit of aiming to for the feet. As for you Kimimaro. You rely too much on your ability to take a hit and keep going. Haku is a hell of a lot more fragile than you, but still kicks your lazy bones around like a punching bag. Work on flexibility. Specialization is fine, over-specialization is suicide."

Zabuza sighed. "If it was anyone other than you two brats I'd call Haku a slacker for being unable to get a decive win against someone coming off a terminal illness and I'd call Kimimaro a coward for not getting back into training earlier. Stop letting those damn doctors baby you. If they complain when you get back home, tell them you have my orders to leave as soon as you feel ready for action. That's all for now. Haku, help Kimimaro look less like a pincushion that got rolled on by a hedgehog, please. After that, individual exercises for the rest of the night."

"Yes Zabuza-san~" Haku smiled as she took off her mask, using the string on the katana's sheath to tied them together, Kimimaro copying her movements, although he winced in pain at random intervals. The senbon wouldn't leave a lot of lasting damage, but they still stung like hell.

Finally shaking herself out of amazed silence, Molly sprung into action, stomping over to Zabuza who hadn't moved an inch since the fight began. "By merlin's beard! What are you thinking, giving children weapons and telling them to fight?! They could have gotten seriously injured! Maybe even killed! What kind of father does that to their own children!?"

Faced with an angry parent chewing him out, Zabuza simply stood his ground, looking down at his host with a raised eyebrow. "The kind that wants them to learn to protect themselves." Was his only response.

"By almost killing each other!?"

Zabuza shrugged. "Evolution through fear. People grow stronger when facing down pain or death. Coddling them will hinder their progress."

This seemed to infuriate Molly further as she pointed to the teenagers being discussed. "What about their feeling? Do they want to this?! Did they agree to this?! Shouldn't they have a chance at a normal childhood instead of being training to be killers!? They are just children."

Sadly she didn't know that Haku and Kimimaro already had blood on their hands. Haku's in self-defense, and Kimimaro in service to a greater cause either in the name of Zabuza or the Mist itself.

"Why are you asking me? If you desire an answer, talk to the brats. They have been old enough to make their own decisions since I found them." Zabuza kept his voice level, though he felt a headache coming on. Great, hopefully a small nap would get rid of it.

Molly turned to walk over to the boys in a huff to ask the poor dears their opinion. In her haste, she wasn't paying attention to the second last word, specifically what it was implying. Hermoine however, had no such issues and was the only one who caught on to the possibilities.

"Well dears, are you being forced to do all this? Don't you want to be normal teens, go to school instead of getting stabbed with weapons? Don't worry you are safe here, he can't force you to do anything." Molly said, going from motherly fury incarnate to loving and caring at the drop of a hat.

Neither Mist-nin mentioned that Zabuza couldn't be stopped regardless of what pretty words they said. But that didn't worry the teens. While he didn't show it often, Zabuza had a soft spot for his brats and they knew he cared for them, as much as they cared for him.

Kimimaro was the first to speak up. "I assure you Weasley-san. This is the path I have chosen. It is an honor and my pleasure to serve as a member of the Hidden Mist. As Zabuza-sama stated, in our country I have been a legal adult since the age of six. I do not need to be pampered and waited on. Zabuza-sama would never force me to do something I do not agree to and I have the utmost respect for him. As for our training. I understand that it may seem extreme to you, but myself and Haku are protegés. We have long passed the point of were standard -safe- training is worth our time. If we wish to get the most out of our potential, there are risks we must take. Isn't it a mothers dream to see her children become the best they can be? The ends justify the means. So long as I grow, I will continue with my excercise."

With his speech finished Kimimaro bowed slightly before walking away from the clearing to start pulling needles out of his arms and torso. Hopefully Haku wouldn't be too long. Help was always appreciated when dealing with removing dozens of senbon.

Now it was Haku's turn, and while Kimimaro was polite enough, he turned on the charm. "Weasley-san. You have no idea how much your concern means to me. It is a welcome change of pace, but I must agree with my brother. Zabuza-san has nothing but our best intentions in mind, regardless of how crude his actions may seem. He does not see us as tools to be thrown away. We are his children, and we simply hope that you respect that. Like Kimi-kun, I choose to follow Zabuza's teachings, just as I chose my path. I can promise our spares will be less bloody in the future, but we will not change our minds. I hope you can respect that choice. Now if you please excuse me. I have a brother to de-needle." He finished with a small giggle, thinking Kimimaro was getting off light so far. Next week was when his real punishment began.

Haku bowed as well before joining his brother, gently pulling out the needles that had been embedded in the boy's back. That'll teach him to try some poorly thought out spinning moves in the future.

Molly just didn't know what to say, so she said nothing at all and went inside to think things over, mumbling something about how crazy and insane these new wizards were. Most of the Weasley's followed her, expect for Ron who was pumped from the 'wicked cool' fight he just saw, and was dragging Harry off to for some duelling practice.

Zabuza looked at the only wizard left, who oddly enough was looking back at him. She had a hint of fear in her eyes, but she hid it remarkably well.

Hermione stood in place for a moment before gathering the courage to walk over to Zabuza, stopping to stand in front of him and bow. Finally, someone being respectfull, well not that he could blaim the wizards. Different cultures and what not. "Yes?"

"Um.. Lord Mizukage, if it isn't too much of a hassle, may I ask you a few questions?" Well, Zabuza had to admit she was a brave little thing. Since he had nothing else to do now, and he didn't feel like meditating just yet he decided to humor her.

Now to play every ninja's favorite game. 'Interrogations and Lies.' At least with a child interrogator he probably wasn't going to be skewered or literally probed for answers. Probably.

"I have some time, so I will answer as best as I can brat."

He had to smirk at the girl's reaction to being called a brat. Obviously she was the 'mature' type of civilian. Ah well, not his place to call her out on it.

"I was just wondering.. no one seemed to be paying attention. But you said you 'found' Haku and Kimimaro, what do you mean by that?"

"Well brat, you certainly don't pull any punches. But that is not my story to tell. Ask them nice enough and they might give you an answer. I recommend not pushing though. It isn't too sensitive a subject, but old scars can still bleed just like fresh wounds.."

Hermoine just nodded, storing that away for later. "Is everyone in your village a swordsman?"

"No, we just use them more than most people."

"Are you a swordsman as well?"

"Yes."

"How good are you?"

"Define good."

"Are you better than Haku and Kimimaro?"

"If they worked together, they might beat me in a straight up sword fight, but personally they need some improvements."

"What's the symbol on your hat mean?" Hermoine knew there were other questions she should be asking, but when an -adult- wasn't telling her to stop with the never-ending stream of question, she'd roll with it until they did.

"It is the kanji for mizu, or in english, water."

"So your title is water related?"

"Mizukage translates roughly to Water Shadow."

"Why? I do not mean to judge, but why water specifically? Are there other Kages?"

"Yes, four other. I am from the Land of Water, so I am the Mizukage. If I was from the Land of Fire I'd be the Hokage, but some other brat already has his sights set on that damn title, and I don't feel like the hassle would be worth it." Zabuza snorted, thinking of a certain blonde, orange jumpsuit wearing moron.

"Ah.. is everyone in your country a wizard, or are there muggles as well?"

"Muggles?"

"Non-magical people."

"So civilians. Things are more or less the same as they are here. We just don't hide our powers."

"Really? That must be nice.. probably not fighting about something as stupid as blood status..."

"Brat, a bit of advice. There are few things in this world that are infinite. One of them is human stupidity. Learn that lesson now, and it'll save you some trouble down the road."

"Oh.. okay.. um.. what kind of magic do you guys do?"

"More or less the same stuff you do, just a bit differently."

"Different how? Does it require a different focus than a wand? Or do you rely on other objects? Like swords."

"Dunno, it's just different. I'm a leader, not a scientist." Zabuza just shrugged, Hermoine decided to ask again later.

"Oh.. how long have you been in charge?"

"Couple years."

"Ah.. well um.."

"Nothing else?"

"No sir."

"Alright then." Zabuza just stood in place. He'd spent the last two years of his life as the Kage of a village on the brink of collapsing, so a bit of quiet, and relaxation was earned at this point. Especially if he was going to be going back in a few days, and lose his second in command a week later.

That was just a nightmare waiting to happen. Now he really was starting to regret this idea. He should have just ignored the wizards, kept the brats back in Kiri and keep up with their training there. Hell, he wouldn't even need to send the full four members to the Chunin exams.

Sending Haku by himself would have been overkill, sending Chojuro and Suigetsu as well? The four of them could probably take on every chunin hopeful at the same time and come out with only a few scratches and pleased smiles. But what's done is done. He threw his lot in with the wizards. If this doesn't pay off, Mei is getting a public execution by spanking.

It'd be a fitting way for her to go. Kami, she'd probably joke about how she'd been a naughty girl... That thought sent a small shiver down Zabuza's spine.

Meanwhile in the head of the fourteen year old gryffindor girl, were questions she wasn't exactly comfortable asking outloud. Most of them being along the lines of "Are all the girls in your village as pretty as Haku?" or "Are all wizards as ruggedly handsome as you in your village?"

Thankfully for both peoples sakes, she beat down her curiosity of how old Zabuza was, along with if he was married. She was not into older men, nor was she going to try and seduce an ambassador.

She was not an idiot. Like Ronald or Harry. Thought that may be a slight bit of jealousy speaking at the fact her two best friends fawning over the new girl.

Zabuza barely had to look at the girls face to get a guess at what was going through her head. He almost pitied the girl, but even after two years of being a slightly better guy than before, he still had to chuckle as he waited. Oh these poor, poor wizards are going to get the shock of their lives.

"Brat. Kimimaro and Haku are probably finished with removing the senbon. Why don't you go bother them instead of me?" He didn't even look at the girl as he spoke.

"Ah, sorry Lord Mizukage... I didn't mean to be rude." Hermoine bowed and turned to leave before Zabuza's voice stopped her.

"Brat, in a private situation such as this. Momochi-san would be enough. I am not petty enough to force my proper title when simply having a chat. Kami, if you feel especially brave, feel free to just call me Zabuza-kun instead of Lord Mizukage." Still didn't look at her, arms still crossed. Since the girl probably didn't know the difference between honorifics, Zabuza decided to have some fun himself.

Sure no one would get the joke, and he might not be around to see this ticking time-bomb go off, but just imagining the look on Haku and Kimimaro's face was worth it.

Hermoine bowed again. "Sure, Lord Mi- Momochi-san. It has been an honor talking to you."

Zabuza just nodded as Hermoine finally left. Well, one day almost down, two more to go. Lovely.

* * *

Haku had an issue. It was nothing too important or life threatening. But it was a problem that if solved, would result in him jumping for joy.

The issue?

Simply chakra control.

Now I know what you are thinking. Haku is great at chakra control, he is the only known ninja capable of one handed seals. His mastery of water and ice techniques was far beyond his years, among the best in the Hidden Mist.

But no, his issue wasn't chakra control for techniques. It was chakra control in his muscles. The ice ninja knew he wasn't the physically strongest of shinobi his age. He relied on speed and superior techniques for his combat prowess.

If only he could make his hits worth a damn.. Well, worth more of a damn. He didn't hit like a light breeze, but he also was wasn't strength oriented. He'd heard of the Legendary Sannin Tsunade, Kami, he even met her when she helped heal Kimimaro. But still, he didn't think her technique would be this difficult to copy or recreate. If it relied on medical knowledge, he should have been fine.

Haku wasn't a medical-nin by any stretch of the imagination. He had the textbook knowledge about acupuncture points, as well as every biological weakness and strength of the human body for assassinations. But he wasn't a healer. Nor did he wish to be one.

With a small sigh, Haku decided to work on it later. He'd been bashing his head against this specific brick wall for two months so far. Two months more doesn't sound too bad. Such a shame that he couldn't just ask for tutoring in the technique, being from a different village after all.

Ah well, if a technique could be created once, it could be recreated with hard work and persistence.

With that in mind, Haku sat down, seeing Kimimaro meditating on top of a nearby hill. Good, he's growing his chakra reserves. He could always do with more, especially so he can use his fifth dance more than twice a day. But enough about the bonehead.

Haku seemed to have barely closed his eyes to start his meditation that he felt a presence. The joys of being a sensor ninja. Can't just ignore people, even when you want to. Then again it is rather helpful against ambushes.

The mystery person sat down across from Haku, and kept quiet, which was nice, even if her presence alone was a minor bother.

It took five minutes of waiting before Haku finally broke the silence, keeping his eyes shut. Might as well work on sensory skills since meditation is now out of the question. "While I enjoy the company, I do hope our time won't be spent in absolute silence. I believe that is for friends closer than we. I hope that we do get to that point at someday, but for now conversation seems the best route."

One well-practiced smile later, and he heard a female giggle. So it was either.. Ginny, yes, her name was Ginny. Or it was Hermoine. Alright.. time for a small gamble.. Ginny was inside, but had more than enough time to double back and get here. Hermoine was talking to Zabuza-san last he saw.

Hm.. ah well, he can play it off as a joke if he's wrong. "For what do I owe the company Granger-san?"

"How'd you know?"

"I didn't, but thank you for the confirmation."

"Not bad... what are you doing? Meditation?"

"Correct Granger-san. Most would have said taking a nap, but yes. Meditation is my current pursuit."

"Should I come back later? I don't want to interrupt."

"Oh, no no no. Don't worry. Company is always welcome. I prefer to enjoy my quiet, self-reflection with a cup of jasmine tea in one hand, and a good book in the other." Romance books most often, and Ichi Ichi if it had been a particularly bad day.

"Then why are your eyes still closed?" Damn this girl asks a lot of questions.

"While I am no longer meditating, I -am- trying to get a feel for nature, simply listening and trying to sense what's going on. A little inner peace does wonders to conversation skills. If my actions offend you Granger-san, I would be more than happy to open my eyes."

"No, no. It's fine. I was just curious. May I ask you a personal question? It may be rude to ask, but I'm a bit too inquisitive for my own good. Or so I've been told." Haku had to think this over. He could think of a narrow selection of questions she might ask from information given so far.. Yes, this would work perfectly. Useless information shared in exchange for possible knowledge.. and Hermoine did seem to be the brains of the operation.

"Of course you may ask. Though I may not answer." Haku teased gently, getting a small smile from the younger girl. Not that he could see, but still. What he could sense on the other hand where the chakra signatures of every wizard within a mile. He committed himself to memorizing each one while half listening to Hermoine.

"I was wondering... Lord Mizukage said he found you and Kimimaro. Did he adopt you?"

"Why yes, he did do that. I believe.. roughly eleven or ten years ago. But I'm assuming you wish to hear tale that accompanies that action as well, hm?" Haku grinned playfully, it was times like this that he really enjoyed cross-dressing. It just made the job so much easier. Women connect better with people they believe to be woman, while a man with enough alcohol and proper flirtation will be spilling his guts out in a heart beat.

Hermoine nodded. Then realized she was an idiot and spoke. "Thank you, but I won't force you to tell me."

"I don't mind. But I will warn you, it is not a happy story."

"Oh okay.. I think I can handle it."

Haku nodded as he shifted in place to get comfortable, and to stop his legs from falling asleep before he began. "Before I was a member of the Hidden Mist, I was born and lived in a small, snowy village in the Land of Water. My birth parents were simple farmers, and everything was good. I had a pleasant childhood till I was.. five or six.. the age is a bit of an iffy detail, I hope you don't mind. I'm not entirely sure why, but one day my father went crazy... he attacked my mother and myself, killing her. But sadly, even at a young age I wasn't the easiest target.."

The boy sighed, the memory didn't haunt him after ten years, but it was still a pain to relive things. Also getting a few pity points might work in his favour. So he just continued. "In ensuing fight between my father and myself, I won, killing him in self defense.. and there I was. A child, who'd lost everything by one of the people who gave it to me... I spent a year after that wandering the Land of Water.. eating out of trash bins, fighting off wild dogs and sleeping in the streets."

A small, female hand was placed on Haku's left shoulder. Probably Granger trying to be comforting. "Thank you.. but after a year, I had stopped to rest on a bridge, it was what seemed like a normal day. I remember being hungry at the time, so I mustn't have eaten in the past few days before that point... but that's the day I met Zabuza-san. It was rather surprising. A member of the Hidden Mist stopping to talk to a street rat like myself.. he called me unfortunate. Said I was going to end my life unwanted by anyone. That I would die with neither freedom nor dreams. He was right, I didn't completely understand it at the time, but his words rang true. So I said the one thing that was on my mind. I told him, he had the same eyes as me. The eyes of the forsaken, ones who'd been abandoned. After that, he simply took me in. I don't know his exact reason why, but he finally gave me a purpose. Something to live for. A reason to get up in the morning. Zabuza trained and raised me personally from that point on. I am his first child, and I will forever be in debt for the care he has given me. I would lay down my life for Zabuza if needed."

Haku took a small breath. "So yes Granger-san. I am adopted, but the man who killed my mother, is not the man I consider my father. He doesn't deserve that title. Zabuza is my one, true father."

"I.. see." Hermoine didn't exactly have a response.

"Granger-san. May I ask you a small question?"

"Of course." Not like she could really deny Haku the opportunity after that bombshell.

"Do you have any dreams, or hopes for the future?"

"Yes. I want to enjoy the time I have with my friends for as long as possible. And I hope that we will stay with each other to the end, no matter what. Why?"

The girls response got a genuine smile out of the ice ninja. "That is a lovely dream Granger-san. I asked you this because I have a dream to. I want to protect someone precious to me. To work for that person. To fight for that person. To make that person's dreams come true. That is my dream. And Granger-san."

Haku brought a hand up to gently take Hermoine's hand off of his shoulder and into his own, finally opening his eyes to stare at her. "Our dreams are rather similar I think. You want to be there for, and help those you care about. I can certainly respect that. I believe that when a person has someone important to protect. That is when the can truly become strong. You are a bright young girl, and your friends are very lucky to have you."

With a notion to put his training off until tomorrow Haku stood up, letting go of Hermoine's hand to dust himself off. "Now Granger-san. Why don't we go inside? I have heard a bit about you from Potter-san and Weasley-san. But I'm sure their descriptions didn't do you justice, and I would love to hear your side of the story regarding the basilisk." Haku said with a kind smile as he offered Hermoine a hand to help her up.

If what Haku had learned was true, Hermoine didn't exactly have the most female friends. So of course he was going to fix that issue. Out of the goodness of his heart? Partly. For the sake of the mission? Absolutely. It was a winning situation for everyone involved. Perfect.

**AN: Edit: Whoops. One of the tough things about writing Haku is having to switch between describing him as a he, while having everyone else call him a she. So um.. thanks to MadxHatter123 for pointing out that mistake. I very much appreciate it sir.**


	4. Chapter 4

Haku was 'forced' awake rather early the next day. Well, not really forced, ninja's didn't require a lot of sleep, and getting up before dawn was the standard for Mist Shinobi unless they were on medical leave and needed rest.

Oddly enough it was Hermoine that knocked on the door to tell them to get ready for the days events. Kimimaro didn't say a word, but the look on his face told the ice ninja everything he needed to know. Mostly that being handled by a little girl wasn't up to Kimimaro's standards. This entire trip had been one insult after the other.

But he kept his mouth shut. Though the moment that Zabuza asks for their report, he was going to express his opinion to the fullest. These wizards were disrespectful, lazy, arrogant pricks who do not deserve the pleasure to even exist in Zabuza-sama's presence, much less be formal allies. Kimimaro was completely in favour of stealing everything that isn't nailed down and flipping the wizards the bird.

The only thing holding him back from doing so was Zabuza's express orders telling him to keep his temper in check, and try to keep relations pleasant until he'd had more info.

Regardless, the Weasley's minus Molly, along with the Shinobi delegation, Harry and Hermoine were walking through field after field, apparently heading to the portkey that would take them to the quidditch game. The shinobi still had to shake their heads at wizard naming sense. Why must they name everything after some sort of illness or physical malady?

Hell, shinobi were professional killers, and they still found some of the naming a bit morbid. Guess to each their own?

Haku had to suppress a laugh when Kimimaro's eyes landed on the portkey. He looked ready to go on a rampage after looking over the nasty old boot. It took him a couple deep breaths, but he got back down to manageable levels. Best of all the wizards were too busy talking with each other to notice.

The new additions were rather polite, but they didn't get the chance to really get further than introducing themselves and the usual small talk. Something any half-competent shinobi could breeze through without paying attention.

Thankfully the ordeal with the portkey was over quickly, though Harry almost didn't grab it in time. Now that would have been interesting. The poor little Potter boy lost in the middle of no where. It brought a small smile on Zabuza's face.

The new arrivals left as quickly as they'd shown up, leaving the Weasley's to show the Shinobi to their tent. With a promise to come get them before the match starts, the three shinobi were left standing outside of the small tent.

"Zabuza-sama... permission to speak freely." Kimimaro broke the silence. No one had moved, not even looked inside the tent.

Zabuza just grunted in permision, though he had a very good idea what Kimimaro wished to say. And frankly, he was starting to agree. As the Mizukage, Zabuza learned the value of patience and humility. But -this-. This damn tent that didn't seem large enough to fit himself and Kimimaro, much less all three of them.

"Sir, this is bullshit. I think we should just leave. If this is how they are treating us as an introduction to their society, I say fuck them. When the old man comes tomorrow to take you back to the Mist, we should all go. Tell the wizard where he can shove that damn stick of his, and that the Mist will be ignoring all contact with the wizarding world."

"Now now Kimi-kun. I understand completely. But we can't just leave a possible ally." Haku was pissed, but did everything in his power to hide it. How -dare- these wizards treat Zabuza like this. "Let's just put our stuff inside the tent and we can see if it is possible to rent another one. Then we can talk. Though if you want to leave this place on a path of corpses, I'm much more open to the idea than before. This is inexcusable."

Haku frowned as he took the step forward needed to open the flap. The moment he got a good look inside, the ice ninja's frown grew even worse.

Now Haku was not one for swearing. Zabuza knew this. Kimimaro knew this. Most people who knew that he rarely swore. So the moment that Haku stopped ranting, Zabuza blinked, and Kimimaro stood blushing a deep crimson. Who knew sweet little Haku had such a... varied vocabulary. His voice had even deepened to a more male tone during the rant. Haku never slipped out of his light and soft tone, even when angry.

The shinobi ignored the dirty looks they were getting from their tent neighbors, until Haku pulled them inside.

To their surprise it was bigger on the inside... "Mother fuckers.. they are just screwing with us at this point.. aren't they?" Zabuza swore under his breath.

Kimimaro took it rather well actually. They, finally, had a place that was satisfactory. The lush pillows, hanging drapes and general atmosphere was much more suited to be the quarters for an ambassador instead of the Weasley house. He had one question though. Why, the hell didn't they just give them one of these on arrival!? He'd have had no issue with these accommodations and could have avoided the pointless argument with Weasley.

"Sir... I take back my prior statement. But I still ask that you think long and hard on whether or not an alliance is worth it.. I am starting to hate these wizards.." Kimimaro ground out.

"Cause you asked so damn nicely, I'll take your opinion into consideration brat." Zabuza collapsed onto a pile of pillows as he chatted Kimimaro about what he'd learned so far from the textbooks his clones had studied through the night.

Haku spent the time exploring the tent, making sure they had everything they needed. She was even surprised the kitchen area had food. It'd still need to be tested for poison later, but it was one of the few thoughtful gestures from the wizarding community thus far.

Once everything had been looked over, Haku decided to go exploring. From the way Ron talked about the event, almost every wizard in Europe was going to be attending. So what a better place to observe the enemy than when there are thousands of them?

With a reminder to return before the match started, Haku was off.

* * *

It took him barely half an hour to get bored with wandering. Seen one old wizard in a pink floral dress, seen them all. Haku had a feeling that if a wizard ever tried to infiltrate the Elemental nations, he'd be executed within the day for being a spy, if this was the standards of magical espionage.

He may be placing too much in the acts of civilians.. but then again, it seems that basically every wizard aside from a select few is a civilian. Haku wasn't even sure if they had an actually military... then again they were supposedly in a time of peace, and occassionally an idiot will take over..

An army is not an option for a country, an army is the back bone of a nation... though Haku's opinion maaay be a tad biased. Raised in a militaristic society after all..

"You have a lot of Wrackspurts floating around your head. Are you lost?" A voice spoke up behind the ice ninja.

Now never let it said that Haku is jumpy or easily frightened. But when an unknown individual manages to sneak behind you before announcing their presence. Most people would react in some way. Sadly, for ninja's that reaction was usually lethal for the sneak.

Quicker than most people could see, Haku spun around to face the 'attacker', barely stopping himself in time from skewering the poor girl through the throat with a senbon.

The girl just stared at Haku with gray eyes that seemed almost.. cloudy.. the weird part was these seemed natural, unlike that professor who probably used magic.

"Oh my, that was rather exciting. Can we do it again?" Wait, what?

"Um, I'm sorry." Haku's needles dissappeared back into his striped armwarmers. "Oh, I really do apologize. I didn't intend to hurt you. I am not the best person to startle from behind. If you would be willing to follow me I could find a bandage for your wound."

It wasn't much, a pin prick with barely a full drop of blood. But Haku felt terrible for harming a civilian in a moment of weakness.

"This, it's nothing." The girl took her stick- wand. It's a wand. Might as well use the right term. She took her wand from it's resting place in some unseen pocket before pointing it at her own throat. "Episkey."

Might have been overkill to use an actual spell on something like that, but Haku wasn't going to say anything. Still, Haku now knew healing existed. That would be a useful tidbit of information for the future. Also, see if the pockets are just tricks of perspective, or actual magic.

The girl standing in front of him was dressed in probably the weirdest outfit he'd seen thus far. It looked rather like the normal witch robes, aside from the puke green colour with gold trimming. No, the point of focus was her hat. If it could be called that. It seemed to be a small red haired man in green tights standing on top of some sort of bird woman. The radish earrings and cork necklace were just a bonus.

Add in the dirty blond hair, grey vacant eyes, dreamy voice and pale eyebrows that made her look constantly surprised, the girl seemed otherworldly. Finally, someone interesting.

"It's enchanted you know. I look forward to using it during the game." The blonde tapped the brim of her hat with the tip of her wand which set off the magic.

Haku kept himself from laughing as some sort of folk music started to play as the little green man danced on the bird thing to the tune of the music. The show went on for about a minute before stopping. Of course, Haku politely clapped. "Rather impressive. Did you make it yourself?"

This caused the girl to blink, and close her mouth as she stared back at Haku, obviously mulling something over. The worst part was, the ninja had no idea what she was thinking about. Her body language switched between unreadable and chaotic at a moments notice.

Apparently she had come to some sort of decision before she took a step forward, standing on her toes to look into Haku's eyes as best as she could. The fact she could get to his height on her toes did irritate Haku slightly. He knew he'd never be the tallest ninja, but still. He didn't want to be reminded of his small stature.

"Mr. You know your eyes are the exact same shade as a Umgubular Slashkilter. You may want to start to wear a bracelet made of sphinx hair and turnip shavings." Her voice kept the dreamy quality to it, but there was an undertone of seriousness in it now. The fact she had guessed he was male was also more than a bit disconcerting.

"Oh? May I ask why? Also, what is an Umgubular Slashkilter? I don't think I've ever heard them mentioned before. You see, I'm not from around here. I am looking to learn as much as possible in my time here." Haku smiled at the girl, though she was a little too close to actually see it. Well her loss.

"Having eyes the same colour as yours is bad luck, and can lead to diseases such as Rubber Bone or Loser's Lurgy. Sphinx hair is known to prevent both when in contact with skin."

"Then why the turnips?"

"To reduce the smell. Some people seem to be oddly sensitive to it and complain about it."

"Ah, well thank you. I will see what I can do to. I don't know the best way to get sphinx hair though. Any recommendations?" He couldn't tell if the girl was serious, but it'd be worth a try. That and if the girl was willing to tell him where to get magical ingredients, he wasn't going to stop her.

"Most potions shops will carry some... though you'll have to order it special, or it'll be cut into smaller pieces that can't be made into a proper bracelet." The girls voice got lower as if she wasn't sure what to say. Okay? Oddly enough she took a half-step back, so he finally had his personal space freed up.

"Thank you, now I don't believe I caught your name."

"Luna Lovegood." She said, as if her attention wasn't entirely on the conversation at this point.

But Haku just smiled at the girl, not really caring if she was out of it. He was to be act as a diplomat after all. "Haku Momochi. Lovegood-san. I know it is rather rude, but may I ask you a small favor?"

Luna snapped back to reality.. or whatever plain of reality she was on normally before smiling back at a Haku. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. It must be rather fun to play around like that. I wonder if I could pretend to be a boy for the year..."

"Well, if you wish Lovegood-san, I could offer you some pointers as I am just as much a member of one gender as I am of the other." Haku grinned playfully. If she was willing to keep quiet, why not give her a bit of help? It wasn't going to hurt the village, and it's not like she could change her chakra signature, which was now memorized in the back of Haku's mind.

"It's alright. I don't want to waste your time. The game will be starting soon anyways." Well, he got shot down. Ah well, he could try again later. There was something different about this young witch. 'Interrogating' regular witches is easy enough. It's the odd balls, the spanners in the works that you got to look out for and utilize.

Regardless, Haku bowed his head. "It has been a pleasure Lovegood-san. I do hope we meet again in the future." Luna simply nodded before leaving, another thoughtful expression on her face as she weaved her way through the crowd.

Haku shook his hand, he'd need to tell Kimimaro and Zabuza about this later. They'd probably get a laugh that someone guessed his true gender so easily... how the hell did she do that anyways... Well he could figure it out later.

For now, he had to get ready for the match. After all, that lovely red kimono wasn't going to wear itself.

* * *

Haku knew he wasn't like the vast majority of other males. If he was going to forced to wear male clothing, it would have to be for a -very- important occasion. And this was not that important an event. In fact, there had yet to be anything where he was forced out of his beloved kimono's.

He could only think of two occasions were he'd wear male formal wear. And in a way he wasn't looking forward to either of them.

But for now, he could enjoy himself in his scarlet kimono with a pink sakura petals pattern sewn randomly into the the fabric. His birthday present from Zabuza last year. Haku's hair pulled back into a bun to expose his face. Again Haku thanked genetics for his appearance, where his Adam's apple next to invisible, and he generally just looked effeminate without effort.

A slight application of make-up later, and Haku was willing to bet a years pay that no one would think he was male.

Kimimaro went with a simple sea blue kimono, with Kiri's emblem printed proudly across his back in a light gray. Nowhere near his best, but after the treatment of Zabuza in the past two days, he didn't feel the wizards deserved the extra effort. His only compromise was to pull his hair back into a single grey ponytail that draped over his left shoulder.

Zabuza seemed to share Kimimaro's opinion, and didn't even bother to change. He simply used his spare Mizukage outfit instead of the formal wear he brought. Why? Cause the wizards weren't worth the time it'd take to change. Anyways, this was a sport of some sort, was it not? He didn't care if he was an ambassador, he wasn't going to wear the robes given to him by the kids, to watch a bunch of brats fly around with a stick up their ass while throwing balls around.

"Hello, anyone home?" Arthur Weasley called from the entrance of the tent. A brief conversation later on where they'd be sitting and the entire group was off. Apparently the Weasley's were going to be sitting in the Top Box as well with all the other big wigs.

Kimimaro was smart enough to keep his mouth shut, and face neutral. He didn't need to start another fight. He could wait for Suigetsu to show up and let him throw the first punch. It'd worked in the past, so it'd probably work now.

* * *

Haku had to ask, why in Kami's name were there so many damn stairs? He was nowhere near tired, but having to constantly stop as the random assortment of wizards in front of him tried to catch their breath was irritating.

They had magic for Kami's sake. Use it. Or if you don't want to use magic, toughen up! Haku sighed, kind of hoping to see that Luna girl. She might not be any better than these wizards physically, but at least he might have an interesting conversation.

He'd asked Hermoine about the Umgubular, and apparently she had never heard of them, which just made Haku more curious since the girl was basically a fountain of knowledge. When asked where he heard the term he gave Luna's name.

Oddly enough, it was Ginny who had the most info regarding the girl. Luna was a third year Ravenclaw, whatever that meant. She was rather smart, but wasn't exactly all there in the head and was known to talk about creatures that didn't exist or crazy government conspiracies. Ginny's words, not Haku's. Though she was aparantly a rather nice girl, regardless of her oddities.

Haku would have believed the little red head girl about Luna being insane, but he'd met the girl as well. Besides, the only difference between madness and greatness is success. Kami, look at Orochimaru. One of the greatest ninja's of his era, and everyone knew the snake bastard was crazy to a great degree.

So the ice ninja spoke up once or twice in defense of the blonde haired girl. After all, it was better to cast judgement on a person after you actually spent time with them. Or were the wizards prejudice by genetics? Who knows.

After about ten more minutes of faffing about on the stairs the ninjas plus Weasleys plus others arrived in their section, and already the crowds were whispering. Haku could easily hear the various males whispering each other questions about who the beauty in the red dress was, which was always enough to cheer up a sour ice ninja.

No one seemed to guess he was male. Haku giggled quietly. He always loved this little game as he gave out small smiles and greetings to the various assortment of flirtatious winks from the bold, and muttered introductions from the shy.

In fact, of the Kiri ninja's only Kimimaro didn't stir up a lot of gossip from the nearby wizards. Sure, some wondered why he had gray hair or what his dots were, but soon enough those voices either went back to the game, Haku, or if they were a female older than sixteen, they focused on Zabuza. Specifically his body.

Haku almost shook his head in pity at the predatory gazes that examined her teacher/father. They didn't stand a chance of gaining his attention, the poor things just didn't know that. Nor would Haku or Kimimaro stand for some random women to try and take -their- Zabuza.

So Haku just sat down to enjoy the side show. He knew exactly why Zabuza dressed rather.. provocatively as his standard work wear. Each of the hidden villages had their specialties. Suna was a village of pragmatic schemers who'd do everything and anything to get the job done. Iwa used overwhelming numbers to crush the opposition beneath it's heel. Kumo was a master at shock and awe. Attack, disorient the target, and keep attacking until you or the enemy was dead.

And Konoha would -claim- to be a jack of all trades that didn't specialize in anything in particular. But all you needed to do was take a quick look through the village history and you'd start to connect the dots to their usual tactics. Specifically hording and using as many over powered blood lines or clan techniques as possible. The Uchiha, and Hyuga's as a prime example.

The fact that every Hokage was basically a monster disguised as a man didn't help either. The Hidden Leaf just had a talent for producing a one man army once per generation.

But Kiri was different. The Hidden Mist used distraction. Supterfuge, illusions, traps and ambushes. Everything they could to draw the attention away from the important facts, so that the enemy didn't even notice the knife that slit their throat.

And Zabuza was nearly the Mist personified. He was a huge man, who looked like he relied on strength to beat his opponents senseless. He gave off the air of a beserker, someone ready to charge into the thick of combat to tear as many to pieces as possible. Nothing about him screamed assassin. He walked confidently, and seemed to draw attention to himself with ease.

Even his title worked to his advantage. The Demon of the Hidden Mist. The expected a monster who's body count was in the triple digits before he even attended formal training, and that's what he showed them. What he didn't show them was the cold, calculation look in his eyes, as he picked his opponent apart, looking for any weakness, any slip up to capitalize on.

And if showing a bit of skin gave his target that split second hesitation that resulted in the difference of life or death, of success or failure, he'd do it happily. He always had a good laugh in private at the end of every day, remembering how this women was staring at him, or this woman offered to take him out for lunch. His outfit was a tool, with a purpose. And right now, it was performing beyond expectations.

Might have to something to do with wizards having only seen such a sculpted body on.. well sculptures honestly. A life of magic does not a six-pack make. So Zabuza who stood off to the side of the seating area 'talking' to other foreign dignitaries was the focus of a lot of female attention, even if not all of the observers were.. available. What? A girl can have her fantasies. It's not a crime to look after all.

The game was uneventful in Haku's opinion. Mostly cause he didn't care enough to listen to the rules or Play by Play that Ron and Harry were fighting over to explain. Again, cute but no matter how cute a pouting puppy is, after an hour it just becomes troublesome.

So halfway through the game Haku's attention wandered. There was a platinum blonde pair of males that seemed to be shooting the Weasley's dirty looks every so often. Haku's gut told him to ignore them. Why? Just cause they appeared twice as unjustifiably arrogant as the rest of the wizards combined.

Not worth his time, even if the younger one kept checking him out. Thanks but no thanks.. well well.. what do we have here.

Haku smiled when he saw a small, vaguely female looking shape sitting in the seat next to Kimimaro, who seemed to be sleeping. Probably just practicing meditation in noisy environments. Kimi-kun must have been even more bored than Haku thought.

With a gentle elbow to his brother's arm, and a short nod in the elf's direction, Kimimaro got the message and they traded seats, where Haku immediately congratulated himself for noticing the poor little thing.

The.. little girl? Thing was obviously deathly afraid of heights, and after a minute of convincing, Haku was getting info as fast as the little house elf could spew it out. Most of it was about the elf's master, who Haku decided to check out later if he was anyone of importance. Mr. Crouch... wait, that was one of the people Zabuza talked to early.

No one of major importance, from what Haku was hearing he was a pencil pusher... and the kami-damned fool who seemed to have been in charge of the Kiri delegations housing while in Britain. Aparantly these damn wizards don't really understand the concept of a Hotel. Kimimaro also seemed to have picked up that fact, storing it away for later. Least now his wrath had a target, and so did Haku's.

Let it be said. Only fools think that the only use of kindness is to show weakness. Oh no, kindness was much more useful. Show a little kindness and you can make allies that will stay by your side through thick and thin. The Kiri nin had taken that lesson to heart. Even if Zabuza said to take the advice with a grain of salt. Being gentle and kind is fine when the situation allows for it, but be prepared for when negotiations break down and everyone starts reaching for the kunai, cause at that point, kindness is just a pleasant way of saying suicide.

Unless you are a blonde haired idiot. But he is the one exception among a universal rule, and Zabuza in a rare show of emotion asked all of his brats to not emulate the blondes behavior, for their own safety.

Haku spent the rest of the match talking to the house elf. Most of it was listening to stories about her master and his family, the rest were innocent little questions about her species and wizards in general.

A lot of people left the stands after the game with a smile on their face. Ireland had narrowly snatched up the victory, but Haku was the only one smiling for an entirely different reason. Two little tidbit of information that he'd have the immense pleasure of telling Zabuza later.

House elves are what Haku would call a race of willing slaves. An entire race of energetic, loyal little helpers. It almost seemed stupid until he thought about it. The elves apparently knew some magic, but when magic was the norm it was no longer special. They most likely became a slave race to survive. After all, if your boss is apparently the apex predator, in their minds, of the whole world, who would be stupid enough to harm you? It was rather clever. If you can't do a job yourself, you get someone else to do it.

The second, and better piece of info was that Hogwarts was full of the little things. If his talk with Blinky was any indication, they were always happy to help anyone who showed them a bit of kindness. It was perfect in Haku's mind. A well established way to gather info was through the servants, and since the house elves liked to be helpful, this was starting to look like a year long vacation for the ice ninja.

Haku had every intention enjoying this time away to the fullest. After all, months without missions meant more training time. Who knows, maybe he'd be able to master a few more techniques while in England. Maybe make some friends, have a bit of fun. Enjoy himself.

He didn't mind his profession. Well, he didn't enjoy assassination missions, but those were a necessity, and thankfully he only got them when he was the absolute best choice for the job. He knew it was necessary, and that he was doing people a favor, but still.

Haku shook his head slightly, clearing his thoughts before deciding he should just go to sleep. Zabuza would be leaving tomorrow night, and Haku wanted to get a full training session with him in the afternoon, since Kimimaro was being a bully and called the morning slot.

Oh, it'll be nice to see the look on their faces when they see what some 'real' training is like. Haku giggled. He liked the Weasley's. They were nice people, if a bit naïve. Something about their kindness reminded him about Naruto. He couldn't really place why, but he knew what the feeling was.

They were good people. Rough around the edges, sure. Some more than others. But they had a heart of gold. Except maybe the twins. Haku had overheard them discussing a variety of pranks and chaos to be caused this year, and he had to admire both their creativity and commitment. Even if it was to simply causing trouble.

* * *

Haku was awake the moment he heard the first scream. This wasn't the irish enjoying a night of drinking, singing, drinking, getting hammered and more drinking. This was a scream of terror and pain, that caused his training to kick in.

With a glance at the others, Haku wasn't surprised to see Zabuza already dressed. His eyes were closed as he focused his hearing and chakra detection. Since he wasn't a sensory type, Zabuza took more time and energy to get a clear reading.

"Roughly seventy contacts minimum... their chakra signatures seem tainted.. similar to that scum orochimaru's curse mark, but weaker.." Kiri ninjas ran into some of Orochimaru's goons seven months ago, managing to find one that was lucky.. or well unlucky enough to have a curse seal.

Sure, it was probably the weakest one the snake bastard had available, but the Interrogation Unit, Research and Development, everyone had a field day with a live test subject. Heck, Zabuza was even nice enough to ship him over to the Leaf with part of their findings as a show of faith between the villages.

But we are getting off topic. As Zabuza gave a very rough estimate of the enemies numbers, the two teens finished getting ready, waiting for orders as more screams joined the first. Haku heard the term 'Death Eaters' a few time. Must be the name of the idiots.

"Brats, you are on evac duty. Revugee protocol. Get the civilians out of here. No limiters. We are not letting these damn Sticks die just cause they showed up to watch some stupid game. I'll deal with the fucks."

Haku and Kimimaro disappeared in a puff of frost and smoke while Zabuza started to gather his chakra. Yes he was Mizukage, but he still needed a moment when doing a jutsu on the scale he was about to attempt. He hadn't spent the last two years sitting on his ass after all.

A small smile appeared on the Mizukage's face. Oh, it had been a while... he hadn't had a good fight since Kakashi in the Land of Waves... sure he kept up his training with Mei and the brats, but as much as he boasted bout them learning through the fear of death, he knew most of his partners wouldn't kill him. He trusted them that much.

No, now he'd get a real fight. Though a more accurate term might be slaughter.. massacre... butchery. Really, just take your pick, since they all apply.

Zabuza finished gathering chakra, summoning the Executioner's Blade onto it's rightful place on his back from the sealing matrix before rapidly going through the sequence of twenty hand seals that he was beginning to fall in love with. "Secret Technique: Demonic Prison of Mist and Rain".

When he felt the jutsu start, he had to smirk. Perfect, now to go prove his credentials. Time for a return of the Demon of the Mist.

* * *

It was an interesting night for those who attended the Quidditch world cup. Some might replace interesting with terrifying, or horrible, but interesting seemed to fit far more appropriately.

The Death Eaters had attacked once the celebrations had started to wind down, probably hoping to catch as many people asleep as possible. Which they succeeded in doing. They had even managed to rampage for ten minutes before anyone started to offer some form of resistance aside from stunned silence.

Then people were being shaken awake by either a nondescript young wizard wearing a grey robe, or a plain looking witch in black. Haku and Kimimaro thanked Kami that their ice and bone clones could use the transformation jutsus, or they'd be calling a lot of unwanted attention to them.

Some of the magic users hesitated at first, but the moment the word Death Eater was mentioned they started scrambling to leave.

Later people would all wonder why they saw multiple copies of the two mysterious strangers running around between the tents, entering one before leaving another, but at the time no one cared to ask why. There were Death Eaters about, with the fires and flying spells more than enough evidence to suggest a retreat.

The -vast- majority of people were evacuated without issue. Regardless of if they were muggle-born who didn't want to be added to the large list of deaths in the Dark Lord's name, or they were Pure-bloods who didn't want to get caught in the cross-fire.

Some tried to stay, saying they'd be safe in their tent, or they were the fools that tried to pack everything before running. Both were treated with the same level of grace and care. Specifically, they had their asses knocked out and Haku or Kimimaro had one of their clones carry them to a safe distance.

Things were going rather well with the pair only using ten of their fifteen clones each

Probably the biggest troublemaker was one Harry James Potter. The Boy-Who-Lived, otherwise know as the Boy-Who-Refused-To-Just-Let-Someone-Else-Handle-Thing wasted precious time arguing with the original Kimimaro about how he could help.

Of course, Kimimaro couldn't blame him. Here he was, a stranger in the kid's home country, telling him to shut up and sit back while some stranger supposedly protected them. Frankly Kimimaro would have given similar protests if the Mist itself was being attacked.

But the bone user didn't have the time to argue, so he did what every good ninja did, as well as fulfilling a life long wish of Harry's. He put his hand on Harry's shoulder, looking into his eyes as if they were going to have a quick heart to heart. Get to know each other, forge a friendship, tempered in the fires of war. All that shit. Instead, all Harry got was a fist in his gut and a world suddenly filled with pain and blackness.

Well, he always did want to be treated as something other than the Boy-Who-Lived. To Kimimaro, he wasn't anyone special. He was a civilian, attempting to interfere in Shinobi matters, which demanded that he be handled by the highest ranked ninja on site however said ninja damn well felt like it.

Let this be a lesson children. If you are going to make a wish, don't leave it open to vague interpretations. Consult a lawyer and get as -specific- as you can. If not, don't be surprised when the universe decides to screw you over. Food for thought.

Kimimaro hid a small grin as he tossed the unconciouss boy to the twins who barely had time to react before yelling at the assembled group to move, their lazy, under-used, wizard asses out of here. A rare moment of vulgarity, but Kimimaro felt he deserved a break.

Of course his actions and 'unnecessary roughness' got him a few dirty looks from his host, but it was totally worth it. That, and they were easily ignored.

Haku meanwhile had no such issues and was efficiently managing the crowd of people running away. Using his clones to distract any Death Eater that got to close.

After what seemed like an eternity to the assembled witches and wizards, things started to quiet down. The screams had stopped, and a few of the more inquisitive wizards turned around. Hermoine's jaw almost dropped at the scene, cause of course she was going to investigate.

It had been a rather clear night, a bit humid sure. But -nothing- to justify the literal sphere of mist that seemed to have descended over the camping grounds. It seemed to go on for miles, encasing the entire grounds in a pearly-white abyss.

Hermoine didn't know why, but she had a gut feeling to look at Kimimaro, who stoop next to her, grinning a bit at sight. So obviously this was some sort of magic from his people... just.. the scale of it was nearly over-whelming.

The young witch took a step forward, as if heading to reach out and touch the white clouds held in perfect formation before a hand caught her by the wrist.

"Don't touch. It won't kill you, but you will not enjoy extended exposure." Kimimaro warned her, pulling her back a step. Sure they weren't too close to the edge, but he wasn't going to take his chances.

"What.. what is it?" She stuttered out, trying to conjure reasons why she shouldn't touch the mist... was it poisonous? No, he said it was non-lethal. So paralysis? Maybe, but he said touch.. so it didn't need to be breathed in.. why would they use it then? Some sort of magic potion in gas form?

"Zabuza-sama's magic. I do implore you to keep quiet about this though. Please?" Kimimaro's voice dragged Hermoine out of her thoughts, before nodding.

"Um.. sure.."

"Thank you." Kimimaro let go of Hermoine before crossing his arms as if to wait. He looked quite a bit like his adoptive father in that pose-.

The moment the teenager compared Kimimaro to Zabuza, the screams returned, but these were different. The voices sounded muffled even with the mist to block things...

It took her a couple minutes, but the bright gryffindor put the puzzle pieces together. It was no longer the people who came to watch the game that were terrified... no.. it was the Death Eaters. They were screaming curses as loud and fast as they can, some sounded like they were begging for mercy, while others just seemed to scream.

The noises coming from the mist seemed to last for nearly half an hour, as more witches and wizards came closer to the edge of the mysterious magic until finally it stopped and the night became quiet. Very, very quiet.

More time passed, but people could see the mist start to fade, as if it was no longer being held together.

Slowly the grounds cleared and people began to enter, lead by the idiotic few willing to bet it was safe, followed by the slightly less foolish who were willing to go because they had a meat shield in front of them.

* * *

It took them a while, but eventually the wizards in front reached the center of the camp, where most of them had the pleasure of vomiting at the sight that lay before them.

Corpses, nothing but a large pile of Death Eater corpses, thrown on top of each other like sticks in a campfire. The bodies were found to mostly be intact, well at least the ones they could see were. A few were missing an arm or a leg but ah well. Dead is dead, in one piece, or in dozens.

Blood pooled on the ground as more and more magic users gathered to see what the commotion was about before wishing they hadn't.

"Hey.. look up there!" One wizard shouted, pointing up at the sky.

Many held off, to try and think of someway that this didn't happen, that the Death Eaters weren't taken out with such ease. Of course they'd thank whoever did it, but the speculated and misinformed facts gathered by a quick look at the scene told them that whoever did this was not to be messed with.

But, humans are curious by nature, and eventually. One by one, witch after witch looked to the sky. Some were even brave or tired enough to chuckle.

Written in the sky, gently back lit by a soft blue light were the words. "They didn't enjoy the taste."

* * *

Zabuza gave Haku a sidelong look as the boy admired their handiwork. "Come on Haku, let's find the others and head back to the Weasleys. I don't feel like staying in this shit hole for the night."

Haku nodded as he walked along side. "I agree. I'm starting to believe that massive concentrations of 'magic' reduce a species's intelligence."

"Hah!" Zabuza gave a short laugh. "Just keep that opinion to yourself, and you'll be fine for the year, kid."

"Of course, Zabuza-san." Haku smiled as his Zabuza gently pat his head. The ice ninja really hoped he'd visit when he had the chance.

Chojuro and Suigetsu were slowly becoming family, so it'd be nice to have them around, but while Haku was a bit embarrassed to admit it, this was going to be his first time on an extended mission away from Zabuza. Most missions Haku received were completed within a week, possibly two. But this.. this was much longer. He might not see Zabuza for months.

What if something happened while he was stuck with these wizards? It was rare, but there were still a few missing-nim who wished to usurp Zabuza like he usurped the Fourth. What if Zabuza was killed, when he could have been in Kiri to help protect him?

No.. He'll be fine. Zabuza is stronger than that.. He'll be fine. Haku shook his head slightly as he wrapped his arms around Zabuza's, holding onto it as they walked. Might as well enjoy the time he had left as best as he could.

**An: A cookie to whoever can guess what jutsu's Zabuza combined to make his secret technique.**


	5. Chapter 5

The day after the World Cup was normal enough. Though the wizards seemed want to force it to be normal. They were still a little shaken up from the riot and the events following it.

Hermoine, Ron and Harry spent the whole morning trying to figure out who or what managed to take on so many Death Eaters. The token female of the group kept quiet as the boys bounced ideas off each other. Was it a secret group of wizards opposing Voldemort's followers? A new division of the ministry? Or was it much worse.. was there another group of dark wizards who decided Voldemort's time in the spotlight?

The boys threw out the idea that it was the new arrivals. Why? Cause there was only three of them. There was no way they could have caused so much death in such a short time. Especially when it was two against nearly a hundred. Hermoine thought otherwise.

These were new wizards, with new spells. The fact that Kimimaro admitted that the vast ball of mist was the Mizukage's spell certainly pointed to the ambassador having either a hand in or was directly responsible. But no matter how she approached the problem, she just couldn't see -how- he did it.

Eventually the trio split up, the boys deciding to spend some more time with Bill in hopes of learning a few more spells, while Hermoine decided to go looking for the mysterious wizards, hoping to get some answers.

* * *

She eventually found them twenty minutes later in a field. According to Mrs. Weasley they'd been out there since before dawn, something about their last supervised training. Whether they'd been out here the whole time, Hermoine didn't know, cause seven straight hours of training sounded lethal to the girl.

Of course the mother still felt like it was barbaric and unnecessary, heck, even Hermoine felt it was a little extreme, but as she stood to the side watching, the young witch had to admit there was a certain method to the madness, a little bit of art in the chaos.

When she could actually see what they were doing that is. Hermoine could have sworn they were slowing their strikes so she could have some semblance of an idea on what she was watching, even if it was just silver and grey blurs as Zabuza danced around to dodge either Haku's sword or Kimimaro's fist.

Finally Zabuza called a time out, giving each of his children a few pointers in a language that Hermoine didn't understand. Sounded Japanese.. or Chinese. She honestly couldn't tell the difference from this distance. Once finished speaking he sent them off, probably to do cool down exercises. The two certainly looked like they could use it.

Haku, the picture of peace and serenity in the short time that Hermoine had known her, was gasping for air, and drenched in sweat.

Oddly enough both of the teens were massaging their jaws as Zabuza slowly strutted over to the waiting teenager. Hermoine guessed he didn't want her to interrupt the training session, so she got to talk to him personally. Even better.

Now, Hermoine wasn't well-practiced in the fine art of reading body language or expressions for a hint at a person's personality or abilities like any competent Shinobi. But even she could tell there was a reason the man walking towards her was in a position of power.

It was subtle, and hard to pin-point why, but the man radiated power. It reminded her of when she first talked to Dumbledore. But while the old wizard seemed to distract from his competence with eccentricities and senility, the Mizukage seemed revel in it. He didn't seemed like the type to enjoy the attention, but she could see that from the way he held himself to the clothes he wore, all of it was to draw himself to the center of attention.

"What do you want Brat?" One thing she didn't enjoy about the man was his lack of manners.. then again he was the leader of his nation or something very similar, so he probably didn't need to be nice to a young witch. Still, least he was willing to talk.

"I was just curious, and hoped to ask you a few questions."

"... Fine. I got an hour to kill. The brats could use a rest anyways."

"They were rubbing their jaw. Did they break it?"

"No, just in the process of learning a new spell. They'll be fine in a day or so."

"Oh? What kind of spell? Can you teach it to me?" Hermoine smiled, excited at the possibility of being the first to learn foriegn magic.

"No." And shot down without hesitation.

"Why not?"

"Cause I don't feel like teaching even more brats."

"Please. I promise I won't abuse it."

"Brat, I don't think you'd use the spell even if you know it."

That surprised her. Hermoine gave Zabuza a quick look, trying to judge his reaction to her next question. "Is it Dark Magic?"

Now Zabuza didn't know what Dark Magic meant specifically, but he understood what she was asking. "No." Zabuza sighed quietly. Might as well throw the girl a bone. "It's not Dark Magic, a Forbidden Technique, or anything like that."

"Then why wouldn't I use it? Is it to counter another specific spell? Or is it-."

"Brat, take a breath and I'll explain." Zabuza cut her off, before she could start rambling. "Why do you want to know anyways?"

"Oh! I'm curious. What kind of magic do wizards in your village do? Can British wizards learn it? How is it different? How does it work? I just want to know. Don't you ever get like that, just have a desire to learn?"

"Not really, but I see your point." Zabuza looked down at the girl before him, thinking things over.. He wouldn't be showing her the jutsu, the seals or even telling her the name of it so.. might as well give some useless info. It's common knowledge in the Elemental Nations anyways.

"Brat, the reason you wouldn't want to learn it is simple. Do you want to have shark teeth for the rest of your life?"

Hermoine blinked, not expecting -that- as the answer. She was thinking it was just a rather nasty jinx or something. "Sshark teeth? Why?"

Zabuza shrugged. "Right of Passage."

"Does everyone in your village do it?"

"Hah, if only." Zabuza snorted. Oh if only every ninja in his village was strong enough to deserve using that technique.

"Oh.. um.. why?"

"It's a mark of honor. Only a very select few have the ability to be chosen to wear it." Zabuza's tone of voice was as if he was telling some rather confidential info, even though everyone knew that the Seven Swordsman of the Mist had the pointy teeth.

Either way, Hermoine was lapping up... until she remembered why she came here originally. "Did you make that ball of mist last night during the riot?"

"Yes." And no further explanation. Why do they

"Why?"

"To contain the problem. It's a simple illusion that gets people walking in circles. I was trying to help and buy time until the ministry arrived." Hermoine knew that answer was crap, but she wasn't sure how much.

"Then explain the corpses."

Zabuza shrugged. "They were piled in plain view, and I think whoever left the message wanted them to be seen. Aside from that I don't have a habit of trying to explain death to brats, nor do I wish to start one. So in case you are wondering what a corpse is, I'm sure Mr or Mrs. Weasley would be willing to explain."

Hermoine stared up at the taller man, guess she wasn't going to get any info out of him. Fine. She had a year with Haku, and Kimimaro. She could learn plenty from them.

With a polite bow and a quiet "Thanks" for listening to her questions Hermoine left, thinking of ways to learn more. She loved puzzles and a mystery, and the foreign wizards just happened to give her a new set.

* * *

Once the witch was out of sight, Zabuza flared his chakra, knowing Kimimaro and Haku would sense it. A quick moment later, the teens appeared before him in a puff of smoke, ready for the quick final briefing.

"Alright brats, mission stays the same. Gather as much info as you can get your hands on. Making friends isn't a priority for now, so long as you don't compromise the mission. I want as many artifacts as you can gather. But remember. Treat all of them with the utmost care." Zabuza glared at both of them. He knew they would get the message, but still, a little emphasis is never a bad thing.

"I have overheard the wizard brats talking bout cursed objects, and the last thing I want is to lose any of you to a fucking pocket watch left by a wizard who can't just fucking die in peace. So if needed get the house elves to help out with checking if something's cursed or not. Better yet, use a clone when handling anything unless you are certain it's safe."

Haku and Kimimaro nodded as Zabuza paused again. He was finalizing some details in his head. "The rest of the brats and Mei will meet you at Hogwarts in a week. So Kimimaro, you get the pleasure of Haku personally instructing your training till then."

If Kimimaro could get any paler than he was normally, he did. He'd almost forgotten about his outburst two days ago. Now it was coming back to bite him in the ass. "Yes sir.. I promise to keep my temper in the future."

Zabuza just waved a hand dismissively. "So long as it doesn't screw up the mission. I don't give a damn. I trust your judgement, and your outburst while not appropriate, was justified. Haku, I've already given you your tips for the week here. Once you get to Hogwarts.." These damn names.. how the heck do they take themselves seriously..

"Once at.. Just no.. once at the damn school, Mei is in 'charge'. But remember this. Your lives are worth far more than anything we can stand to gain from the arrogant shits. So if things get dicey, get out. We don't know the full extend of 'magic' so fight with caution. Aside from that, use your powers as you see necessary, and try to keep Suigetsu in line. I don't want to have to deal with a war against them just cause he killed someone for something stupid."

Another pair of nods, which got a small chuckle and a hidden smirk out of the tired Mizukage. "Alright you damn bobble-heads. I need to get ready for the crazy professor to get back to the village. So good luck. If you two don't make it back in one piece, I'm coming down to hell and dragging you back to Kiri whether you want to or not. Kimimaro. Make any pervert who makes a pass on Haku wish they'd never been born."

A pat on Kimimaro's shoulder, followed by a quick hug with Haku later and Zabuza had left. He'd never been good with the emotional stuff, but at least he was trying.

"Now Kimi-kun, since I'm in charge of your training for the next week why don't we start the fun now?" Haku smiled at his brother, pulling out a handful of senbon and a suspiciously innocent looking vial.

The last thing Zabuza heard of his oldest pair of brats during this visit to Britain was Kimimaro's defeated sigh.

* * *

The less said about Kimimaro's training the better. The wizards noticed the boy was starting to look ragged and worn out, but the bone user stuck to his guns and just said he was finishing off a rather difficult type of training, and that he'd be fine.

Haku just spent the week smiling, no one suspecting that he was the one putting his brother through hell. But it was a hell earned, and one most ninja's had to go through regardless. Especially if they were Kiri-nin.

Either way, Kimimaro learned his lesson. Probably. Well, he learned -a- lesson. Whether or not it was the one he was supposed to learn was up in the air. Still wasn't the most social person with the wizards, but he was polite enough and didn't cause problems.

Ron still called him a stuck up prat, but the bone-user didn't really care what anyone's opinion of him was. Especially from a civilian with a stick up his ass and a crush on Haku. Oh how Kimimaro was going to enjoy the look on his face when that little secret came to light.

Aside from the training, Haku spent most of his time with either Hermoine or Mrs. Weasley, reading and discussing magic with the young witch or asking innocent questions about history or society while helping the mother with housework. Amazing the things you can learn just from pretending to be a curious tourist.

It was a rather nice change of pace for the ice-nin even if he was starting to feel the homesickness. Hopefully it'd go away once he had gotten to Hogwarts and had the others with him.

Still, the week passed with relative ease as Haku slowly compiled a mental list of magical artifacts to procure ranging from brooms and wands, to basic ingredients. From what he'd read in Hermoine's textbooks, potions was going to be the greatest area of interest.

Haku didn't have any real talent with poison making, but some of his acquaintances in ANBU or the Hunter-nin were always happy for new toys and advantages. And when you have a poison that can only be brewed with foreign ingredients, odds are you'd need a foreign cure.

But now, now the ninja's were stuck on a train for the next few hours. Great. Just what they wanted, more sitting around and doing nothing. It wasn't like they could meditate with all the talking, and there was nowhere near enough room to practice taijutsu..

And well. Neither ninja was stupid enough to practice ninjutsu in the middle of a moving train. The sole blessing was that they had a compartment to themselves. A few simple clones and transformation jutsus was all they needed to make it look like the place was packed.

Maybe not the nicest thing to do, but Kimimaro had enough of wizards for now. He didn't want to deal with the questions that were sure to follow regarding his appearance, whether this was his first year, where he was from and all that useless chattering.

Public relations were for Chojuro and Haku. He and Suigetsu were nearly strictly combat personnel. Didn't make them a bad ninja, just meant they were a tool with other purposes. You don't use a hammer to cut things, just as you don't use a spear to hammer in a nail.

Haku sat across from his brother, reading a book. Icha Icha Mountains. Some would call the boy out for reading it so openly in public, since no matter how well written it was, it's still smut. The ice ninja usually said it was still well written, even if it was smut and promptly ignore the complaint.

Kimimaro was leaning his head back against the wall, eyes closed to listen in to nearby conversations before he heard some rather interesting new information.

"Ha-kun. How much do we know about the other schools that will be attending the tournament?"

"Very little, there was some mentions in passing about them in Hermoine's history textbooks but little more. Why?" Haku didn't bother looking up from his book, just as Kimimaro didn't bother to open his eyes.

"Apparently the school rivalry is just needlessly toxic as the house rivalry in Pigpimple."

Haku raised an eyebrow at that. "Well, it seems Terumi-san's gamble may pay off then. Pit them against each other..."

"And clean up what remains." Kimimaro chuckled quietly. "Do you have any idea what we'll be doing for out entrance?"

"Aside from simply walking and introducing ourselves? I'm sure Suigetsu-kun will have something in mind. His plans may not always work, but at least he never runs out of ideas."

"One of the few reasons we keep the brat around." The bone user grumbled.

"Now now Kimi-kun. Suigetsu-kun isn't that bad. You really must let it go." Haku chided his brother lightly. "It's not like they'd know what our titles mean aside from face value. Let them judge you for what you show, not the titles given to you by the less informed. I'm sure if Zabuza had a choice, you wouldn't have to worry bout such things." He finished with a reassuring smile.

"Of course Ha-kun.. I just pray we won't be restricted from Ninjutsu practice for the whole year. As pleasant company as Chojuro is, I do not have any desire to be beaten by a child in swordplay... I'd prefer to stay his senior for at least another year."

Haku giggled, finally putting his book down. "Kimi-kun. Don't worry, you'll get yours soon enough. Zabuza-san is working closely with the Leaf. We'll find the remaining swords eventually."

"Mm" Was all Kimimaro had to say as he closed his eyes for the remainder of the trip. A quick nap wouldn't kill anyone.

* * *

"Look at that Pear Boy, finally a group of snot nosed shits that make you look tough. I just didn't think they'd need to be wearing dresses to do it." Suigetsu grinned as he wrapped his arm around Chojuro's neck, grinning like an idiot.

"Oh? Got a problem with me you midgets? Come on, I dare ya." Suigetsu continued to taunt the small group of boys from Beauxbaton. The fact they were staring down a teenager with stark white hair, a large objected wrapped in bandages which they suspected to be some type of weapon, and teeth that looked like they could tear them to shreds.

Suigetsu's grin was just taunting them. Take the bait it said, come on you little guppy shits. I'm hungry and you are looking mighty tasty.

"Sempai, c-can you please behave? W-we are supposed to g-give them a good impression and make allies, r-remember?" Chojuro managed to sputter out once he was free from his teammates grasp.

"Shut it Pear Boy, I want to have my fun while I can, Haku and Kimimaro will be here any second and then we'll be officially on this mission. So for now I'll be a bit immature." Suigetsu whistled as a few Dumstrang girls walked past, shooting them a wink, getting scattered giggles back.

Maybe this mission won't be so terrible after all. And that's when Haku, Kimimaro and Mei decided to show up.

"Evening Suigetsu, Chojuro. I trust you have behaved yourself, Suigetsu?" Haku's smile could have sent shivers down any ninja's spine. The last thing they needed was their cover to be blown cause Hozuki couldn't control his blood lust.

"Y-yes Haku-san. We've been well. S-suigetsu-san has just been f-flirting." Chojuro bowed his head slightly.

Haku took a step forward, putting a hand on his junior's shoulder. "Now Chojuro, what did I say about calling me Haku-san. I would love for you to think of me as something more than just a teammate. We are Shinobi of the Mist. We are comrades, and friends. Haku, or Haku-kun would be fine."

The ice ninja-giggle. "Or if you want, I'm sure Kimi-kun wouldn't mind sharing his pet name with you." This smile was softer, after all. Chojuro was a good kid. Confidence issues, but he was well on his way to becoming a master swordsman, even among the previous generations of the Seven.

"Nice to see you too Haku. No 'Hi, Hello, how was the trip?'. I'm saddened you care so little. And may I say, your confidence in me is rather appalling." Suigetsu grinned at his teammate.

Haku chose to ignore Suigetsu with a small smile. "Does anyone have an idea for our entrance, or shall we just walk in, cards held close to our chest?"

"Why don't we just kill a few, that'll send a message." Suigetsu suggested, getting a smack to the back of his head from Mei.

"Of course, cause we obviously want to begin negotiations on top a pile of corpses you idiot." The older ninja whispered to the group. "Look, we need to do something flashy, that will impress them, poke their curiosity to want to know more. Bait the hook, toss it to the fish, and wait for a bit."

"Mei-sensei, Haku-s-kun. I h-have an idea.." Chojuro raised his hand and began to explain. Even Suigetsu admitted it'd be interesting, for little more than to see the faces of the damn stick users.

* * *

"And now, the moment many of you have been waiting for. I'm sure many have heard the rumors over the summer. Now allow me to confirm them. Contact has been reestablished with a Magical Community to the East. After a long silence, they wish to reestablish ties with the Wizarding world, and what a better way to do so than, some friendly competition, such as the Quad-Wizard Tournament."

Dumbledore brought his arms out to the side with a flourish, the usual twinkle in his eyes. "Now, if you would all please join me in welcoming the fine students of Kirigakure and their Headmistress Mei Terumi!"

With his speech finished, the students began to applaud as the doors to the Great Hall opened.

But instead of a group of students entering through the doorway, mist began to pour through, quickly coating the floors, shrouding the assembled schools from anyone looking inside.

The moment the mist was spotted, students who'd been or at least heard of the events surrounding the world cup began to whisper, some even fearing for their lives before a voice silenced them.

"Weeeell, well. What do we have here?" The Beauxbaton boys easily recognized the voice that had taunted them a few short minutes ago, but now it was different. It still contained the lazy drawl, but now there was an edge to it.

"Come on, Pear Boy. Take a look at all the little brats. Like lambs to the slaughter." The entire student body shivered, the cruel grin easy to see in their imaginations.

"S-suigestsu-sempai. Please don't joke around like t-that. We are h-here to make friends and l-learn." A new voice broke through, calming the majority of students. After all, this voice sounded much nicer, and was telling them it was just a joke. Why worry bout your life being in danger when it was obviously a playful, if cruel joke.

"Shut it Chojuro! Can't even let me have five seconds of fun with the snot nosed shits-."

"Suigetsu. Language, or you'll be reprimanded. We are guests. So you must act accordingly." A third, monotone voice came next, which the Golden Trio and Weasley siblings guessed was Kimimaro. Ron had to snort about Kimimaro of all people saying they needed to be polite.

Suigetsu's disembodied voice just snorted. "Oh? Just like you 'acted accordingly', you damn bone head. Ya, that's right. I heard about your outburst wit-"

"Children, children please. No fighting. We were here to introduce ourselves, not let them listen to you argue. Why can't you all behave like Chojuro? He's so cute, and well-behaved. I could just eat him up." A female voice came through this time, though it sounded a little too old and playful to be Haku.

"Mei-sensei. Please restrain from smothering Chojuro, or I'll be forced to explain to Zabuza-san. And you wouldn't want that, now would we?" And there was Haku's voice, cutting in at the end.

"No~ No I wouldn't. Who knows what he'd have me do as punishment.. the guy doesn't have a funny bone in his body." Mei grinned as she hid in the mist, wondering how long the audience would last.

"Mei-sensei. I assure you. Zabuza-sama has a sense of humor. He just doesn't enjoy your constant displays of.. I believe the word would be.. affection." Kimimaro scolded back, getting sounds agreement out of the still hidden Haku and Chojuro.

Of course Suigetsu had to go the extra mile. "Hah, Kimimaro. Don't be too harsh on the hag. It's not her fault she's a Christmas cake."

There was a small pause before Mei let loose.

"Suigetsu, you little shit! Get back here! I'm going to kill you! We are not here to discuss my love life! When I'm done with you, you'll wish we left you with Orochimaru a year ago!"

There was a crash and everyone's attention was brought to the center of the Great Hall where a women in a rather revealing blue dress and auburn hair that hung down to her knees was strangling a white haired boy with grey pants and a sleeveless purple shirt.

"Say it Suigetsu! Say it or you'll be running laps around the school for a week while Kimimaro tries to turn you into a new pair of fish net stalkings!"

"Not.. saying.. it...You.. Hag..." Suigetsu managed to squeak through Mei's grip before passing out. Since she could no longer get her apology out of the brat, Mei let him drop to the floor.

"Chojuro!"

"Hai!" The teal haired boy appeared in a swirl of mist, forcing the audience out of their shock to ask each other questions. Mostly about how someone so you knew how to apparate, and how he'd even done it in Hogwarts.

"Keep an eye on this idiot. He says one more word out-of-place, chop off a limp or two." This caused a few of the more sensitive students to faint, and enrage the more protective teachers at how casual the statement was. "That'll teach the brat."

"Now see here! I don't know how you treat in your country, but in Hogwarts we do not reprimand students with corporal punishment! Even if they are talking back to their teacher!" Madame Pomfrey was on the offensive, having stood up from her seat. Mei just looked the nurse over, shrugging slightly to herself before giving Suigetsu a swift kick to the ribs. A ninja won't die to something as small as lack of air.

"Ugh.. what do you want?" Suigetsu groaned, his head was killing him and now his stomach hurt. Perfect. Couldn't the hag give him a minute. With the mist finally cleared away, the entirety of the student body and staff could have a clear view of the proceedings.

"Show and tell time, you ungrateful water monkey.. Apparently our original plans are a little.. extreme for them. So you get to be the dancing monkey." Mei grinned down at the boy.

"Fine fine, no need to be so impatient, you'll get wrinkles." A few students had to try to hide their chuckles. What kind of school let's students talk back so brazenly. Mei just decided to pummel Suigetsu later, when there were less witnesses.

They got their answer as Suigetsu's prone form liquified into a puddle. "Gah. You really need to get a date sensei. You're going to kill me one of these days with those choke holds. Why don't you just ask-" The boy started to say as he stretched his limbs out before Mei's fist went through his face, resulting in another splash of water and a scream or two from the students.

"Suigetsu. If you want to make it back to the Mist in anything other than a water tight container. You will shut your shark-toothed mouth about this subject, or I'll free the spot that Kimimaro's been dying to take over."

"Yes, ma'am." The mentioned ninja shut up at that point. Mei's tone of voice went beyond teasing or light-hearted anger into true death threat territory. And Suigetsu knew how to pick his battles.

"Well, this was a blow out. Cause one idiot couldn't keep his mouth shut, we didn't get to finish our presentation. Alright Haku, Kimimaro you two can come out now. Kami, Suigetsu, this is on you if we get in trouble."

"I would politely disagree Mei-sensei. I'm sure Zabuza-san would find both of you are at fault. But for now, we have more important matters to attend. I apologize for my teacher and fellow classmate's actions. One of them is an idiot and the other is Suigetsu."

Haku bowed slightly in apology to the assembled teachers, while the collective students jaws dropped. Why? Cause there was a floating mirror made of ice that wasn't sure as Merlin's beard wasn't there before, and the weirdest thing of all. A rather attractive young women walked out of it like it was the normal-est thing in the world.

The Ravenclaw's were the loudest, trying to think of spells that could achieve such a thing. The Slytherin were wondering what the range on such a spell was, while the Gryffindors were wanting to give it a try. After all, what wizard has ever traveled through floating ice mirrors? As for Hufflepuff, they were a mixed bag of reactions that, let's be frank no one cared about. It really must suck to be in the house of Puffs. Poor dears.. ah well.

Dumbledore just smiled, he'd been rather enjoying the entertainment. Wasn't everyday Hogwart's got to see foreign wizards and customs, as violent as they may be, so he just waved it away with a few pretty words, grandfatherly smile and that damn twinkle in his eye.

"But I must say, I am confused. I remember rather distinctly there being four in your party. I hope they haven't gotten lost."

Haku blinked, and pretended to look around. "Mei-sensei, we appear to have lost Kimi-kun. I'm sorry for causing so much trouble on our first day here."

"Ha-kun, you are being far too polite to these wizards." Haku looked up with a small smirk along with the rest of school, to gaze at the starry ceiling, to see Kimimaro standing on the roof.

"Kimi-kun. Do get down from there. We are here to give our formal greeting, and Suigetsu has already caused enough trouble."

Kimimaro just shrugged and made his way to the floor, slowly walking down the walls to the students amazement. Apparently doing magic without a wand was nearly unheard of for the kids. Haku had to smile at that. The bait had been put on the hook, and now they just had to sit back and wait.

* * *

After the initial confusion, the Kiri ninja took their place at the Gryffindor. The torrent of questions was easy enough to avoid, giving half answers and blatant lies to draw their curiosity. The fact that Suigetsu was talking about academy level techniques as if they were closely guarded definitely helped.

It's rather amazing how easy it is to pass off glass as diamonds if you know how to sell it, and the kids in Gryffindor were buying it by the truck load.

Of course not everyone was giving them a pleasant welcome, more than a few disgruntled teenage girls gave Haku looks of contempt, and hatred. Usually after they caught their boyfriends either staring a second to long at the ice ninja, or Merlin-forgive them, the foreign Headmistress.

Both Kiri-nin reveled in it, Haku played shy and ignorant, as if he didn't notice all the attention he was getting. Though that was mostly so he just didn't lead them on. Letting someone think he's a girl? Sure, he'll play along cause it's fun. Actively flirting, knowing that it'll break their hearts later down the line? That was a little much.

So he left that part of Mei, who was chatting away with a man who from Harry and Ron's descriptions had to be the Potion's teacher. Well, it wasn't his place to judge. Personally he'd have started with the female teachers, but Mei had her own methods and assets that Haku lacked.

Halfway through the feast, the doors to the Great Hall were kicked in and the new.. Defense against the Dark Arts Teacher was introduced. Mad-Eye Moody. The name alone was reason enough to keep a close eye on the scarred, old man.

After you'd dealt with the Sharingan, and it's stupid tricks, you gain a healthy respect for Dojutsu. Especially when that electric blue eye seems to be focused in on you. Yes, definitely someone to watch.

After that rude interruption, things continued in the same vein as before. More heated looks for Haku, a few embarrassed stares at the Suigetsu, and Kimimaro, and even some shy conversation between Chojuro and some other nervous looking kid his age.

Haku's initial assessment of the wizards? Flabby, to used to peace. There was a spark in them sure where they might rise to a fight, but it wouldn't make them strong. They'd fight for pride, for themselves. Kimimaro's statement from the train came back to the ice ninja.

This was a toxic atmosphere. Anyone could see it from the looks on the children's face, the conversations being had and the constant glances between the schools. It almost felt like home. Well, how home used to be. When the Bloody Mist was happy to have that title, when Bloodline users were feared and executed.

But this was not his problem to sort out. They came here for a mission, and unless hired to interfere, the wizards can sort it out themselves. Assuming Zabuza approves of the mission first. So Haku decided to keep quiet. Let the wizards sort out their own issues.

After all, it's not like the Elemental Nations, or specifically Kiri needed even more political bullshit. No thanks. Haku would choose the evil he knew over the shit storm he didn't, any day.

**An: Yo. How's everyone doing? Glad to all have you here. Hope you are all enjoying the serious so far. And I apologize for the dry spell with Lich and the Vampire, just that I've had far too many ideas coming out of my head at once and I got distracted by life and specifically this fic. So do not worry. It shall continue in all my terribly terrible later fashion. I still apologize though. **

**But since saying sorry isn't always enough, I thought I'd throw out a few of the ideas that had been messing with my head lately. Why? Cause why not. Sharing is caring, and I love you guys, and would be interested to read other peoples takes on my ideas.**

**Anyways, quick prompts cause I need to fill space (not really. 5.5k words is perfectly fine chapter length for me)**

**Akainu (The Lava Admiral from One Piece) is attacked by Blackbeard, or something. Not really important how, but what is important is where he ended up. I'm thinking Mass Effect 2 and onward. Just think about. The Paragon of Absolute Justice with a Shepard/Femshep of your moral choosing. Just think about it, trust me. It gets funny.**

**Secondly. I was thinking of another Mass Effect crossover, but this one was going to have a slightly more macro focus instead of a single character. I was thinking Fullmetal Alchemist in Spaaaaace~ Again, like my previous example I have a few details to work out. I just think it'd be fun to see the Amestris world order, especially to see how the council reacts to alchemy. Might make them a separate race than regular humans so we could have Shaxi and that go the way it pans out only for another war to come up later. Mostly I just want to see Kimbley, Roy and other State Alchemists cause some general chaos and havic. You know what, let's add Scar in as well, cause why not? Teach them uppity Turrian's what a real war is.  
**

**Another Harry Potter cross over, this time with... surprise guest the Generation of Miracles from Kuroko's Basketball? I will fully admit this is one of my most... out of left field.. damn wish I could have made a basketball joke instead of baseball.. but yes. Generation of Miracles, genius transfer students from Japan, brought to help broaden their education as well as possibly help in defeating Voldemort. Who knows. Would be set in sixth year. How exactly you'd translate basketball skills to magic is entirely up to you. Though I have a few ideas, cause I have far too much free time.**

**And my final idea to list. This is the idea I fully expect to have the most hate for. So bring it. I was thinking of taking Bolin(Shield/gauntlet weapon) and Asami (Meister) and putting them in the Soul Eater universe. Mostly cause I am a huge Bosami fan (as well as thinking Bolin doesn't get half the screen time, or cool moments he deserves, but that's personal opinion. Don't hate me, please.) I just thought it'd be interesting to get interactions going between them as well as letting Asami be a badass. Besides, Earth and Lavabending would be sick as hell, just for the fact that most weapons are just that. A weapon. But you get Bolin to the breaking point of 'Do or Die', he becomes a force of nature. Just my thoughts and I'm sure by now, anyone who's read anything I write will say I believe there is no such thing as -too- OP -coughcough- Barragan -coughcough-)**

**But yes, that is my apology offering. Feel free to use it as you wish and feel free to twist these ideas around as much as you desire, I'm just giving out free ideas cause I don't want to start another fic until I get at least this one and Lich + Vampire finished. Just shoot me a message if you plan on writing one of these ideas, cause I'd love to see how they turn out (One dedicated follow if ya do~)**

**Anyways, hope you all enjoyed and have a good day. Until next time :)**


	6. Chapter 6

The first two weeks of class passed without incident. Chojuro spent the majority of his time with the Golden Trio, sitting in on their classes to observe magic in action, while Suigetsu spent most of his time with Hagrid, taking care of the various creatures Hogwarts had to offer.

The fact that he could help.. um.. trim. Yes, let's go with trim.. or.. well. To put it nicely, Suigetsu helped with population control of the more dangerous creatures in the Forbiden Forest as a way to get past his boredom. He did become rather fast friends with the Game Keeper, Hagrid. Especially when said giant doesn't mind a kid with a stubborn streak and an appreciation for 'cute lil'critters'. Even if Suigetsu's reasons for learning was of a less.. nurturing intent. Regardless, Suigetsu was learning as fast as Hagrid was able to speak.

Kimimaro split his time between potions class and the library. The former out of personal interest in the subject. After all, when a man boasts he can brew fame and glory, you need to be sure whether he's just boasting, or if he's got a grain of truth mixed in with those words.

But the stint in the library was entirely professional. Sabotage. It took him the entirety of two weeks, and many late nights but after that time, there was no information pertaining to the Hidden Villages or the Elemental Nations in the Library. Not even the Restricted section.

He had to thank the clone technique though. If it wasn't for that Kami-blessed technique it'd have taken far longer, and some curious little witch named Hermoine may have found some information that the Kiri ninja would rather keep secret. Of course, since the bone user didn't have access to teachers private studies, he couldn't censor those yet.

That was a problem for another day though. For now, he was just casually flipping through the third year potions textbook, making notes on what concoctions would be useful for the village as well as their ingredients. They may have to maintain a trade agreement so the village could purchase supplies in bulk. After all, something like the Draught of Peace would be invaluable on a mission.

And that's not even considering how the Torture and Information Division will react to a few vials of Veritaserum. They'd probably throw themselves a party. Kimimaro also made sure to write down the various healing potions for his friends among the medical staff. They'd probably enjoy any of the strange potions.

Finally, Haku. The social butterfly of the group. He spent the first two weeks socializing with anyone and everyone, well, aside from the Slytherin, but that was a tactical decision more so than anything personal. Haku was trying to make as many friends as possible, and being anything more than polite with the House of Snakes would damn him in the eyes of at least the Gryffindors.

Prejudice idiots, the lot of them. But, again. Not his problem.

No, now he had the pleasure of standing in one of the many hallways, watching as a pale blonde Slytherin flanked by two doughy goons were floating a pair of shoes over their heads. Obviously taunting the unseen student. Well we couldn't have that now, could we?

The blonde one looked rather familiar.. where oh where had he seen such a shade before... Oh yes. It took him a moment, but Haku figured it out. A man with similar hair along with a women that Haku assumed was the man's wife spent part of the game trying to talk to Zabuza-san.

Trying being the key word. Zabuza spent the entirety of the game chatting with either Mr. Weasley or random members of the British Government, trying to get a feel for the climate and everyone's importance.

Now if only Haku could remember what Zabuza said about blonde.. did he call him a snake.. no... hm.. well. He could always come back to that. For now, he had to deal with Blondie Jr.

"Excuse me. I might wrong, but aren't the hallways supposed to be clear during class hours?" Haku spoke up from behind the trio in green, his voice sweet and curious as if he didn't even notice what they were in the middle of. Of course, he'd already heard the victim of their attention being called 'Loony' and a 'Freak', so they weren't going to get away easily.

Blondie Jr turned around at the voice, blinking once he saw Haku in his normal feminine attire. No way he was going to wear robes as drab and awful as the school uniform. He had his pride to consider. Regardless, Blondie recognized Haku, and since his tie was green, he was probably going to smooth talk her.

"We were just trying to help Loony Luna here find her shoes. The crazy bat lost them again." Well, Blondie wanted to pretend he was the hero.. How stupid did he think Haku was? Wait a tick.. Luna.. Luna.. A quick glance over Blondie's shoulders told Haku all he needed to know.

"I see, how kind of you. It takes a truly kind, courageous, and selfless person to help someone in need. You are a true example of the Gryffindor mentality." Haku smirked. He knew the Slytherin's hated being compared to their red and gold house mate, so why not use that to his advantage?

Funny enough, Blondie's face went from the polite ass-kissing look Haku had seen a hundred times since Zabuza became Mizukage to one of barely contained anger. Oh, he struck a nerve. Perfect.

"I am a Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, thank you. I am a proud Slytherin, instead of one of those Blood traitors or Mudbloods." There was a very clear under current of venom beneath those words... Oooh and now everything came back to Haku. Well, he'd save that little tidbit of a memory for later.

"I'm sorry. I just thought that someone with such a long, proud, inbred, illustrious reputation as the Malfoy's wouldn't feel the need to stoop any lower. After all, only children and people with rather small.." Haku's grin grew wider at the small pause, in a matter that to anyone watching would look innocently playful. "Ego's feel the need to bully another. I'd have though better from the house of Malfuy."

"It's Malfoy! You ignorant, foreign witch!" Blondie screeched, his face turning a nice pink in rage and embarrassment.

Haku just waved off the comment before Draco could start ranting. "Apologies. The English language is rather.. foreign to me. Now do run along children. I'd rather prefer to talk to young Miss Lovegood. I'm sure she'd be far more enjoyable company."

The doughy boys just looked at Draco, who didn't know what to say. So he decided to be stubborn and stay in place. Seeing what their boss was up to, the meat sacks stayed in place as well, trying to look threatening. It was rather cute.

Luna just stood back and watched with a smile, wondering when she'd get her shoes back. She didn't have class, but she had other things to find as well. Mostly things stolen by other creatures such as Nargles.

"I believe I will be staying here, until I am given an apology." Blondie said with his nose in the air, exposing his throat.

Well, when someone presents you with a target such as that. It'd be rude to -ignore- it. And Haku was rarely rude. So, quicker than the Three Stooges and Luna could blink, Draco crumbled to the floor. Knocked out from a punch to some pressure points along the boys neck. Haku gave Kami a quick thanks for all the assassination training he'd received. It came in rather handy even when going for non-lethal take-downs.

"Oh my, shouldn't you two be taking him to the Nurse?" Haku flashed an innocent smile at the yet unnamed Grab and Goyle before they started to panic, carting their boss off to Madame Pomfrey. The best part? Haku was most likely going to get off free of charges and with a bit of luck suspicion.

Sure Blondie may have a bruise, but with what the witnesses saw, they'd probably describe it as Haku using some sort of wordless magic. And when they tried to find a trace of the spell used on the boy, they'd find nothing. Haku could even use this incident for later. After all, didn't Blondie faint from the beauty of the foreign girl. That'll knock him down a peg or two.

Haku's gloating was interrupted by someone gently pulling on his arm-guards. The ice ninja turned around, to see Luna's misty eyes looking up at his.

"Ah, Lovegood-san. A pleasure to see you again. Though I am rather embarrassed to admit I haven't had the time to obtain the bracelet you recommended." Haku smiled at the slightly shorter girl, who had taken advantage of the confusion to put her shoes back on.

"Don't worry. There are less nargles buzzing around your head. So they must have found someone more to their taste." Luna smiled back, to Haku she seemed less guarded than the first time. So that was a plus.

"Is this the first time this has happened?" Haku had to ask.

"Oh yes. But I always get my stuff back eventually, so I don't see an issue with it." Luna's voice was oddly happy compared to the words coming out of her mouth.

"Really? And why don't you fight back instead of just standing around?"

"For the same reason you continue to wear women's clothes after people have figured out your game. Would you change yourself cause someone called you loony or a freak? I don't believe so, shinobi-san. So I won't change either. I'm happy with how I am."

Luna's confident smile almost made Haku's jaw drop. "I'm afraid I don't know what you are talking about Lovegood-san." Shinobi. She definitely used the word shinobi. Haku decided to play it safe.

"Really? I could have sworn.. hm.. maybe Daddy's book was wrong... you all wear the symbols of the Bloody Mist.." Luna's confidence faded from her face to be replaced with confusion, while Haku's began to race. Someone knew about that nickname as well. This was not good.

"Lovegood-san. If you wish, I'd be happy to answer any questions you had?" Might as well see what the girl knows, and where she knows it from. Haku didn't really agree with the censoring of info, but when your village has a history as bloody as the Village Hidden in the Mist, you got to understand that making good first impressions are important.

"That sounds grand." Was all Luna said before staring at Haku.

"Do you want to talk here, or would you rather somewhere more comfortable?" Haku was starting to understand why she was called 'Loony'. Still, it was rather cute. Like a lost bunny. That thought brought a small smile to Haku's face. Hopefully Zabuza was taking care of Wata.

Luna just nodded and took off down the hall at a quick walk, leaving Haku to keep up with her. An easy task for a trained ninja. Took them a few minutes, and mental threats to those blasted moving staircases but the pair made it to the seventh floor.

Haku stood back and watched as Luna paced back and forth in front of a blank stretch of wall. Just as he was going to ask what she was doing, an ornate wooden door materialized before his eyes.

Of course, magic. What else could it be? The Ice-Ninja thought with a small hint irritation as he held the door open for Luna. How the door worked is something he'd have to figure out at a later date.. or today. Depends on how open Luna is to giving information.

Haku was rather surprised when he stepped inside. Why? Because in the middle of a medieval wizard castle was a tea room, that seemed to be an exact copy of the one back home. The cushions looked the same, the table looked the same, even the table ware looked the same.

Now Haku was very curious, cause either these wizards had a way to bypass the many seals and traps that blocked access to the Momochi Compound's Tea room, or they had a way to make a copy of the layout and remake it.. The thought both terrified and excited Haku. If it was the latter, the infiltration division could better familiarize themselves with the workspace and offices of potential targets.

What will these wizards think of next? Probably something useless. Hopefully.

Luna took a seat at the table, giving Haku an inquisitive look as he stood by the door, trying to puzzle out what exactly these wizards games were. Finally noticing the look he was getting, Haku sat down across from Luna.

"Lovegood-san, may I ask what this place is?"

"The Room of Requirements of course." Well that explains nothing...

"And what does it do?" Haku asked, as he picked up the kettle, cursing slightly when he found it empty. Well, no tea with the conversation aparantly.

"Why it can do nearly anything you need, well except make food." Now Luna was looking at Haku, like one would look at a child who didn't study for a test. Excuse him for having magic that made sense.

"Fascinating.." Apparently he was wrong.. this room would be perfect for training out of sight from the wizards. Not that Suigetsu cared. He was taking every chance he could to show off his liquid body to anyone who'd watch. Least it drove the students curiosity and gave Chojuro a chance to test his skills against suicide tactics.

"Now, why don't we get to the topic at hand? You know-"

"No one will believe me even if I said anything." Luna interrupted with that dreamy smile she always wore. "The fact that I'm even talking bout it will make people question if anything they find out about you or your people is real."

"I'm sorry Lovegood-san, but I still don't feel like this is a worthwhile trade. Your word may carry more weight than you think. So please, is there anything I can do to ensure your silence?" Haku put on his most charming smile, silently cursing Kami for making Luna a women, it'd be so much easier if she was male.. then again she also knew that Haku was a boy so..

Well this was just getting confusing.

Luna just smiled back as she shook her head. "No, no. I'm fine... but if you'd be willing to tell me more about your village.. That'd be lovely."

Haku took a moment to weigh that fact... It wasn't his best option... nor was it his worst.. He couldn't just kill the girl. It draw too much attention, and it was wrong. Drat... Curse his conscious... "You don't want to learn any of our magic?"

That might work, teach her some of the academy level stuff, so she could show off or have some knowledge to herself. Perfect.

"No thank you. According to the book it takes a wizard years to learn even the simplest of shinobi techniques and decades to master the harder stuff... something to do with a natural affinity to wandless magic and the more physical requirements."

Huh, so someone among the wizards already tried to copy their techniques. A silver lining to this whole thing. There might be small exceptions, but basically everything they gave these wizards would be useless. "And you have this from a reliable source?"

Luna just nodded. "Estaban Toadsworth was an expert at foreign magics for his time. Many believe him to be quite mad though, and his book worth less than the parchment it was written on. But I think he was just misunderstood. After all, dealings with people from the Elemental Nations was rare at the best of time. In fact, most people still consider Shinobi to be just a myth."

Lovely, crazy girl got info from crazy book written by crazy boy, about subject most wizards believed was nuts. And Haku was going to continue the cycle with his next few words. "Then I agree. I'll tell you about the Mist... true things, not this political doublespeak we are feeding everyone else, in exchange for your silence.. and if possible, your aid?"If your people are already considered a myth, why not play around with it?

That may have been pushing it a bit. Luna blinked, as if surprised someone would ask for her help, but after a minute with a thoughtful look on her face, the girl nodded.

Haku didn't trust her just yet, but it'd be a start. And now they'd have a wizards opinion once the group started the more unsavory part of their mission... Assuming the girl would be willing to help.. well at least she'd be willing to tell them if an object is cursed or not.. hopefully... Haku decided that they'll start dealing with potentially cursed objects in a few months.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent in the Room of requirements as Haku began to explain about the Elemental Nations. He promised to tell her about the Mist itself at a later date, but for now he told her of the whole community. After all, look at the forest first, then look at the trees. Or something.

After a few hours of talking with Luna, things just start to blur together with the random questions about local flora and fauna, as well as myths. Honestly? Haku was lucky to enter the private quarters he'd had been given only slightly dazed, instead of completely out of it.

Little did he know Luna was holding back to be nice. After all, got to take things to slowly. Luna didn't want to overload the poor ninja's brain on all the fantastical creatures in the wizarding world.

But enough of that. Haku flopped onto his bed, having missed lunch and dinner, glad that the ninja's had been given their own private dormitory. Partially since the students were of 'mixed' gender. Hah, just meant Gramps hasn't yet figured things out. Well, Haku had no plans on letting that info slip just yet.

Still... he'd have to keep an eye out on Luna.. and tell everyone what happened tomorrow. Probably just to stop Suigetsu from killing the poor girl in her sleep. Surely the girl wouldn't complain about that. And finally, watch the old wizard with the freaky eye.

It reminded Haku too much of Ao's Byakugan. Which was something to be treated carefully. The fact he was always drinking from that strange flask did little to ease Haku's paranoia.

Problems, problems. So many problems. At least tomorrow was Friday. None of the shinobi had to attend classes, but they still went to some of them. Maybe tomorrow he'd spend some time with the Gryffindors. Mostly to give Chojuro a break from all their questions.

Poor kid.

* * *

Haku was starting to fall in love with the house elves that worked in the Hogwart's kitchen. He'd found it only four days ago, but he was well on his way to being one of their favorite students. Why? Simple, he was polite, respectful, and even offered to help prepare lunch.

Suigetsu called it the 'pansy approach', but the other three knew it was just Haku being Haku. None of them were going to complain though. His new found respect among the house elves gave Haku and his fellow ninja's quite a few perks. Ranging from something as inconsequential as being able to call on a house elf for a plate of sandwiches if they got hungry between classes, to something as tactically useful as a tour through Hogwarts.

Not the normal tour given to students or visitors. This was a tour directed by house elves. People who knew, and shared every secret passage and room in the castle with the kind ice ninja.

To many, it was useless trivia. To a ninja? It was an all access pass to an entire countries training facility. Nearly every witch and wizard in training came to Hogwarts. Get passed the headmaster or mistress. And you have the entire future of a country by the balls.

Seriously, it was a giant tactical oversight. Haku didn't agree with the tactic, but if the wizards ever did something to the Mist, they knew exactly where to go. Gut Hogwarts of its teaching staff and students, and the Mist would only need to deal with the combatants they had, as well as whatever suicidal... sorry. Brave civilian decided to get involved.

Hopefully it never comes to that.

But back to other things, where Haku had taken his seat beside Hermoine to enjoy a delicious breakfast of toast, jam and tea. He had hoped to ask the house elves if it'd be too much trouble for them to make food from the Elemental Nations as well, but it slipped his mind during his last conversation with Dobby.

Nice guy, Haku wondered how hard it'd be to get a few house elves to work at the Hidden Mist. Would certainly save ninja's time with upkeep on the village... Alright, now we are getting off topic.

Breakfast passed without incident... well mostly. Harry and Ron took it upon themselves to try and talk to Haku, who'd spent the previous weeks sitting everywhere and anywhere but with them. One morning it'd be with a group of first year Ravenclaw's. Next, it'd be with some third year Hufflepuff's.

Haku was the social butterfly, and everyone was growing to love her.. well him. Still thought it was a her, but regardless, the fan club was growing, with Harry and Ron leading the charge. Oh the poor little things. Still, Haku was polite, and listen to them blab about various classes.

Ron mostly talked about how their Defense against the Dark Arts... why not just say Self-defense classes? Really? It'd save people time and be a better description... but back on point. Mad-Eye Moody had apparently lived up to his title, and half the students were scared shit-less of the crock. Interesting. Doubly so when he let slip they'd be practicing defenses against the Unforgivable Curses today... or well at least one of them.

Haku made a note to pay attention to when the class would be. Being able to protect oneself against the worst the wizards had to offer? Of course he was going to go.

And Harry... well. Harry said something about Professor Snape, and other things. Frankly Haku lost interest half-way through the conversation and was simply nodding along to the ginger and black haired boy, until Hermoine decided to take pity on the poor ice ninja.

The bushy-haired witch didn't look like it, but she had an interest in fashion.. well foreign fashion. She and Haku talked about different types of kimono and the styles of clothing in the Mist. Mostly to the boys annoyance. But the group of girls, which had grown from simply Hermoine and Haku to nearly the entirety of the upper year Gryffindor women found it interesting, even electing a promise out of Haku to bring them a book eventually that showed off the designs.

The final item of interest was something that Haku got a hidden laugh out of. It was a newspaper. A simple wizard newspaper that showed the pile of corpses Zabuza left during the Quidditch cup. Apparently, nearly a month after the incident, the 'Ministry of Magic' was still, "Working hard in our endeavors to find the intent of the poor souls who lost their lives, and to punish the group who believes they could get away with the unjustified slaughter of innocent witches and wizards."

Most of the students knew it was a bunch of bull from the moment the names of the deceased's were released. Something about some of them being former Death Eater's, while others were pure-blood supremacists. All Haku knew, was that the topic was a sore spot for a lot of the snake brats. Apparently some of them lost siblings or relatives in the attack. Not Blondie though. Shame.

Haku didn't say anything to their face, after all it'd be rude to tell someone to go fuck themselves when they are still grieving. But the situation reminded him too much of the Bloodline Purge in the Mist, and any idiot who was willingly spreading such filth deserved whatever they got. People are still people. Some are smarter than others, some are stronger, kinder, taller, shorter, ruder, weaker. But when it all comes down to it, everyone still bleeds red, and still deserves a chance to find their purpose in life.


	7. Chapter 7

It was almost October. Weeks of information gathering were soon to pay off. The Shinobi had been in contact with the Wizarding world for less than two months, and they'd already drained the Hogwart's library of knowledge, copied every text-book available and had a feel for the political climate. Thank Kami for Naruto and his trusting nature.

In short, give them a few more days to test out the defensive wards in the ministry itself, and they could bring the entire nation to its knees if needed.

Some say violence isn't the answer, and Haku would agree on most counts. But a lesson that Zabuza stressed to the ice ninja, and anyone who'd listen is that sometimes, the simplest solution is the best solution. And frankly, assassination is among the simplest type of jobs available. To any competent Shinobi, it was as simple as breathing.

And frankly, what's simpler then an assassination? Step one, pick a target. Step two, kill said target. Step three, enjoy no longer having a problem.

The fact that Minister Lollipop-... Fudge, it was Fudge. What is with these damn wizards and names. It's either candy or pigs, no wonder they can't use chakra. Far too out of shape. Anyways, Minister Bubblegum was like many of the local lords back home.

Completely incompetent, and only had his job cause someone better suited for the work didn't want to deal with the hassle.

Regardless, the time passed in a blur with minimal incidents. Haku could have jumped for joy after his initial meeting with Luna. Why? The Room of Requirements! It was perfect for the Shinobi's training, for the weekly debriefing and as Haku discovered just yesterday. It was a treasure trove of magical artifacts and rare books... They still did small demonstrations during the weekend with D-rank techniques to fan the ever-growing flames of Wizard interest in their 'magic'.

With the addition of the room of requirements, the visiting ninja now had somewhere to actually train, out of the eyes of watching witches and wizards, which doubled as a secret base to catalog, inspect and store everything they could get their hands on. Haku was flying on cloud nine, and people noticed the spring in her.. his.. Haku's step. Those that didn't, were given the treat of watching Loony Lovegood nearly crushed in a bone-shattering hug.

Most just passed it off as Haku being Haku, while his fellow ninja's were left in a minor state of confusion. But that was yesterday, September the twenty-ninth.

* * *

Haku looked at the eyes before him. A misty blue that many would pass off as madness, insanity, or in the words of a tactless ginger 'bat buggeringly nuts' but the ice ninja knew better. Those eyes hid a great deal of intelligence behind their cloudy surface. He knew the truth.. After all, it was laid out plain as paper before him.

"Checkmate." Luna practically sang as her trap was sprung. Damn, he knew he shouldn't have taken her rook two turns ago.

"I believe that is... twelve for myself and.. oh my, have you yet to win a game?" The blonde continued with a playful smirk. "Are you feeling alright Haku? You may have caught Loser's Lurgy? I have a potion back in the common room that would remedy it? A mixture of Heliophant hair and nargle buggies. Rather good for your health"

"No, but thank you Luna-san... maybe if I don't win tomorrow's game I will consider it..." This blasted game. Wizard chess. It was similar to shogi but he was still terrible at it...

"Of course, I'll give it to you after your daily beating~"

"One game.. that's all I ask from you Kami..." Haku sighed, as he placed the chess pieces back in their respective boxes.

"Mr. Momochi is coming to visit soon, I hope. It'd be nice to finally meet him. The gersprurts have been acting up today, it's a good sign." Luna said before lying back onto the floor, flipping open a divination text-book to get started on her homework.

Haku smiled as he finished putting away the game back on the shelf. "Yes, Zabuza-san will be arriving tomorrow to have lunch with Minister Fudge.." The Ice ninja's heart went out to his father figure. Politics were a pain. "But after that, we have the rest of the day to show him around and introduce him to wizard culture."

In other words, give him an update on the infiltration. Still, Haku hoped he'd be able to relax for at least an hour tomorrow. "It'll be nice to introduce you. But.."

"Don't worry Haku~ I remember you saying he wasn't the nicest person when dealing with 'brats'. I'm sure he's just shy~" Luna sang back as she started to jot down the dream she had last night. It involved herself, Haku an empty library and a few books. Let your imagination make up the rest... not like that you perverts.

"Might be nargles.. wonder if I have any spare radishes left.." The young witched mumbled to herself, getting a quiet chuckle from Haku. Luna was an interesting girl to say the least.

"I'll be sure to tell him your theory... need any help with that?" Haku sat back down, looking through a nearby pile of books, trying to decide on today's reading material... might as well go with Icha Icha Just Deserts.

"Only if you wish... Trelawney really is a fascinating women... such a shame so many view her as a fraud.. she's rather brilliant." Luna took out another sheet of parchment, sitting back up to look at Haku. "Now, what did you dream of last night?"

"I was having a sparing match with Zabuza-san in the rain. I could really see his face.. I can't remember who won though..." Haku mused out loud as he closed his book, giving Luna his undivided attention, along with a small smile. "My apologies. I should have written it down this morning."

Luna just waved her hand at the apology, swatting it away with her cork ring. "Don't worry. Tomorrow I'll have your fortune told... oh! Then we can braid our hair to show Mr. Momochi!"

Haku blinked, then shrugged. "I don't see why, but only if you have the time."

"Well.. I only have charms tomorrow.. though I wanted to feed the Thestral's.. I could do that at night..." Luna smirked to herself. Filch had long since given up trying to catch Luna wandering the halls at night. The old man realized it was a fruitless endeavor after he caught Mrs. Norris allowing herself to be pet by the misty eyed blonde. The traitor.

"Would you mind some company? I've heard Suigetsu talk about Thestral's but aside from the short carriage ride," Which was spent having a brief talk between himself and Kimimaro on how to deal with Suigetsu if he misbehaved. So far, neither of them had to regulate his behavior. Thank Kami for small mercies?

"I have never actually gotten a good look at them." Haku finished as Luna turned back to her homework. He didn't mind, a bit of light conversation went well with any book.

"Of course you are!" Luna spoke up, almost defensively. Haku just smiled a bit, her eagerness to spend time together was rather cute.

The ice ninja was a rather 'sociable' person in the eyes of many. He always had a small smile on his face, was always around to talk, but he rarely let anyone close. After all, he had Zabuza-san, Kimi-kun and Mei-san. Why'd he need anyone else in his life as more than a polite acquaintance. Someone to only be thought of when actually talking to the person. An individual to be forgotten until you see them again.

But this weird, blonde little witch seemed to have a knack for breaking his guard down in a way that reminded Haku of a certain blonde idiot, but almost purer... mostly since this blonde wasn't hiding some weird demonic power that could beat his secret technique.. the damn cheater..

Haku was not bitter about losing to a cop-out like that, shut up, you're lying and making up stories.

Luna just smiled and continued to scribble away at the parchment, oblivious to her friend's chaotic thoughts. Haku bit back a swear. He'd talk to Mei-san later... she was better with emotional stuff.. who knows, maybe all this worrying is homesickness.

With that final thought, and bright smile on his face, Haku went back to his book, wishing the day would end already.

* * *

Haku brought his hand up to cover his mouth as he yawned. He really needed to stop thinking that four hours of sleep is enough to get by with...

Regardless he kept up... well slowed his pace down to stay by Luna's side as they walked towards the Great Hall for lunch. Flitwick was nice enough, a tad short but from what Haku seen of wizards thus far that doesn't seem to be anything more than an advantage.

"Sphinx toe for your thoughts?" Luna asked as they turned down another corridor. If Haku had to give these wizards, aside from Luna, one compliment at Kunai-point, he'd say they seem to have an amazing natural sense of direction.

"Professor Flitwick is a rather interesting man, and I'm curious to hear if he's ever-" Haku cut himself off as he saw a familiar head of platinum blonde hair. Specifically the arrogant face under it which was smiling at the ice ninja, looking like a snake that just ate a rather tasty mouse.

Just in case, Haku took a step closer to Luna. Since the pair had started spending more time together, the number of incidents of lost or stolen property belonging to the poor blonde girl had decreased rapidly, along with bullying. Still, he didn't trust Malfuy as far as he could throw the blonde worm... hm.. then again that metaphor doesn't really work. Haku probably could have tossed Malfuy a good distance... but you get the point.

* * *

Draco just smiled and waved at the foreigner. Now many people would have forgiven and forgotten the small incident two weeks ago, but no. Not Draco. He was a Malfoy, making a mountain out of a molehill was not only par for the course in his family, it was a pass-time he rather enjoyed.

So with that in mind, and a whispered incantation later, a small box appeared in front of the Lovegood girl who the foreign witch seemed to like. The bait was in place.

Haku immediately stepped between the mystery box and her friend. And the trap has been sprung. Draco's smile couldn't get any wider as he whispered the last incantation, opening the box as a crowd gathered to see what the commotion was.

* * *

"Kami damn these wizards to their own personal hell... like fuck I'm going to agree to half this stuff... all members of the Mist are under the Ministry's authority while in muggle and magical Britain.. ten percent of revenue from private missions given by British Wizards given as operating tax... immediate disclosure of all magical knowledge belonging to the Mist within a week of signature... Mother. Fuckers..."

Zabuza was not having a good day. Why you may ask? The wizards were still trying to fuck with him, or specifically screw over the Mist with diplomacy. As of this instant, the fifth Mizukage was regretting sending the letter just for the damn headache's he'd been plagued with since first contact.

"If this doesn't pan out for the Mist... Mei is going to wish I killed her.." The Demon of the Mist mumbled to himself as he continued to read through the parchment detailing the Ministries demand-... sorry. The Ministry of Magic's polite and totally fair terms of alliance that doesn't bend the Shinobi village over a table before wailing on their exposed bottom with a plank of wood..

On the bright side, Zabuza now had an idea what to call the piece of garbage if he was ever brain-dead enough to sign it. Small mercies. Take them when you can get'em. He should have seen this coming after yesterday's land slide of mediocre and pleasant news.

Deciding he still had a few minutes before his lunch with Minister Peppermint, Zabuza moved the wizard parchment aside before picking up mission reports from some of the Hunter-nim. An amazingly lucky development was that with the reformation of the Mist, some of the missing-nim were trying to rejoin under Zabuza.

It was very much a case by case basis, but still. He'd worked with or knew some of the ninja that abandoned the village when things looked like they were about to go bottom's up, so he couldn't blame them. What he could do is carefully look over and question them to see if they could be useful in rebuilding.

"Now if only Ukitake would stop hiding.." Another sigh escaped Zabuza's lips. Again he couldn't fault the ninja, once he read his file and came to his own conclusions, he just hoped the Hunter-nims found the bubble user before Akatsuki did.

A small, familiar thud of a scroll landing on his desk shook Zabuza out of his own head and back into reality. It was a message from Mei, marked urgent... Well damn... and he thought today couldn't get any worse. With a tired groan he grabbed the scroll and opened it.

It took him less than a minute to read the entirety of the message after a quick glance at the first line.

"Ao! Get your ass in here now or I will have you executed before you can say Suton!" Zabuza yelled as he slammed his fists into the table, trying to take deep breaths to calm himself down.

The senior ninja, recognizing the tone of voice his Mizukage was using wasted no time, appearing in front of Zabuza on one knee in a small cloud of mist. "Yes, Zabuza-sama."

"Ao.. get me Wave, Ice, Storm, Island, Sleet and Blizzard. Tell them they have ten minutes to be in my office fully prepared before I kill them personally.." Zabuza ground out between clenched teeth, watching Ao nod and disappear into another puff of mist.

"That's it... I was fine playing their games.. but I believe it's time these damn wizards saw what a shinobi is really made of..."

* * *

Haku blinked, then blinked again. He knew what.. who was standing before him but for some reason it just didn't make sense. Zabuza wasn't due to show up until after the student's lunch was over to talk to the Minister and Headmaster. So why was he early, why was he wearing his old renegade outfit, he even brought the Executioner's Blade.. and why... why could Haku suddenly smell blood?

"Zabuza-san?" The ice ninja had to ask, ready to attack the imposter at any sign of movement.

"_Haku..."_ It was certainly Zabuza's voice but there was something that bothered Haku. It was the tone. A tone Haku knew by heart, it was the tone of voice Zabuza used only when speaking of Yagura and his actions that nearly destroyed the once proud village. But Zabuza used it for his name... why? He hadn't done anything.. did he?

"Haku.. you _failed_ me... you were my tool, supposed to protect me... but. You. Failed." The Zabuza doppelganger uncrossed his arms, bringing them down to his side to reveal the burnt and bloody hole through his chest. "A tool with no use shall be thrown away.."

"Zabuza..." Haku managed to squeak out, eyes locked on the wound as flashbacks of that faithful day on the bridge came up to the forefront of his mind, driving off any thoughts of getting away or attacking. The memories of seeing Zabuza pinned down by Kakashi's dogs, seconds away from getting a Chidori to the chest and Haku unable to do anything were enough to hold him in place out of fear and self-loathing.

"I should have left you for dead... because of you the Mist will die a slow death... you, everything about you disgusts me Haku."

The words hit Haku like a punch to the gut, sending him to his knees. "No.. no.. Zabuza.. I didn't fail you.. I didn't... I promised..no.." He whimpered almost to himself, not knowing or caring if anyone heard him as the Zabuza imposter fell to the floor, a small pool of blood gathering under him.

"Ridikulus!" Luna screamed as soon as she gathered her wit's from seeing her friend start to breakdown. The crowd watched as the corpse shrunk, turning into a small Zabuza plushy with a pinky dress and a permanent scowl.

"Stupefy! Stupefy! Wingardium Leviosa! Colloportus!" The young blonde continued, stunning the Boggart before it could change into a new form, specifically her fear before floating it up and into the box it came in, shooting of every and any locking spell and jinx she could remember. Anyone that tried to open that box now would be in for a surprise that'd make the Boggart seem tame in comparison.

"What are you idiots waiting for!? Someone get Madame Pomfrey and his Headmistress!" Luna shouted at the assembled crowd in front of the Great Hall, seeing a few first and second years run off in the direction of the Hospital Ward, while spotting.. Harry Potter and his friends run off in search of either Haku's school mates or his teacher.

A quick glance around told her that Malfoy had disappeared. She'd seen him toss the box, assuming it was just another prank to be ignored or forgotten about, but no. This was a personal attack on her first, and best friend. This was not something to be forgotten.

Luna knelt, wrapping her arms around Haku's thin frame as she patted his back. "Hush, hush, it's alright Haku, I'm here for you.. nothing is going to hurt you..." The young blonde tried her best to get him to calm down, but all she got was choked out sobs and whispered phrases. 'He hates me... I failed him.. I let him die.. I'm sorry Zabuza-san.. I'm sorry.."

Haku's teacher was the first to arrive back, running through the halls, daring anyone to stand in her way. Mei took one look at Haku, and she understood exactly.. or at least probably what happened. She helped Luna pick Haku up before they carried him towards the Hospital Wing.

Thankfully Madame Pomfrey was ready and waiting for them. Luna made herself promise that she'd find the students that ran ahead and thank them.

It was only after Mei and Madame Pomfrey had managed to force a calming draught and sleep potion down Haku's throat that they turned to Luna for question. Well, Mei turned to Luna for questioning, as Madame Pomfrey took out her wand, muttering spells to check Haku over for injuries.

"Girl. What happened?" Mei's voice was cold and flat as well polished steel, a rather noticable change from the airy, flirty tone that everyone in the castle knew about. Frankly, Luna was glad she was Haku's friend, since the look in Mei's eyes wasn't that of someone planning murder. No, they were the eyes of someone who'd killed more times than they could count and gotten away with it.

"We were umm.. walking down the hall. Haku picked me up from Charms and we were going to get some lunch. It was normal.. we were just talking about my homework when we were just outside the Great Hall.." Luna wasn't ashamed to admit she was uncomfortable under the older woman's gaze. "He was going to ask me a question about Professor Flitwick before a box appeared in front of me.."

Luna looked at the ground, ashamed of her actions. She should have acted faster, but shock from both the Boggart's appearance, Haku's reaction and her own wish not to broadcast her fear to the entire school was all she needed to hesitate for five seconds too long, and now her friend was in the hospital ward.

"He.. he stepped in front of it for me.. probably thought it was just another prank directed at Loony Lovegood.. but it was a Boggart." Luna looked up to see Mei raise an eyebrow to continue, her gaze softening slightly as Luna continued. "It's a creature that shows you your worst fear.."

"I see.." Mei sighed, mentally cursing herself. "Luna-chan.. thank you.. for helping him. Haku is... fragile on certain subjects.. I'd really appreciate it if what you saw and heard was kept to yourself... I know it'll probably be all over the school within the hour.. but please.."

"Ms. Mei. I won't..." Luna gave the older women a weak smile.

"Thanks... now do you have any idea who could have done this?"

"Draco Malfoy. Slytherin. Platinum Blonde Hair, Grey eyes. Fourth year." No hesitation. The Malfoy's may have enough sway to bury her and her father, but not before she got a shot off. And she had a feeling, anything the Ministry could do to her family, was nothing compared to the hell the Shinobi could raise.

"Good... now I have a report to write.. you are free to stay here if you wish..." Mei paused a moment to think, before letting an evil, delighted grin come across her face. "And you.. are free to remain here as long as you wish. Don't worry about the call to the Great Hall that is sure to follow. It'll just be us taking care of business." She gave Luna a quick hug, before standing up straight to fix her hair. She had a mission to do now, and needed to look fierce.

Luna blinked as Mei turned on her heels and left, swaying her hips as she walked, but Mei noticed the difference between this walk and the woman's usual saunter. This time she looked ready to destroy anyone who dare got in her way.

Giving her head a slight shake, Luna took a seat by Haku's bed, deciding to stay there until he woke up. It's the least she could do.

**AN: In retrospect, I'm thinking naming the previous chapter 'The Shit' and this chapter 'The Fan', and the next chapter 'The meeting of the two.' But that's toilet humor, and I am far beyond that... not really but I need some standards... shut up. I can lie to myself all I like. Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter~ Shorter than usual, but I think that may be standard from now on. Though I mostly cut this chapter off since I want an entire chapter dedicated to the aftermath.**

**Ps. Any fans of Draco.. well.. my condolences.**


	8. Chapter 8

"Madame Terumi, I understand your anger, but please. There are rules in place for stuff like this. Draco will be properly punished. I'm asking you to please. Take a moment, so we may allow cooler heads to prevail."

"Listen, here. You senile, old bastard." Mei's voice was ice-cold, staring Dumbledore straight in those sparkling, grandfatherly eyes without remorse. She'd already sent Zabuza her message, now all she had to do was force the old man's hand. He was stubborn, but was still a civilian.

"This isn't some school yard prank to be shrugged off with a kiss and a band-aid... Now listen up, and listen good. We are foreign diplomats from a magical community you have not had contact in for over half a century, and even before that our interactions was sparse as hell. Now, unless you want us to disappear for another fifty years, you will. Shut. The Fuck. Up and listen to me."

Dumbledore's smile faded, unable to peer into the women's mind he couldn't assure his student's safety. He knew only as much as the other students... well aside from Ms. Lovegood, but her mind was so filled with.. fluff that it was pointless to even try and get info out of her. These foreign wizards seemed to have minds like fortresses as a standard, while getting something out of the young Ravenclaw was like trying to catch a particular snowflake in a blizzard while blindfolded.

It was a loss-loss situation for him. He agrees to the assembly and deals with the issues that follow, or he politely tells the foreigners were to shove it and Wizarding Britain looses even more contact with the outside world.

"I have your word that none of my students or staff will be harmed?" The old man finally sighed, looking down at his desk, wishing he could strangle Fudge for trying to reestablish connections. They had enough trouble right now, with Voldemort's possible return without another variable.

"So long as they don't get in our way, there won't be a scratch on them." Dumbledore had to applaud the young woman, her face was as unreadable as her mind.

"Alright then. I will call the assembly, and the Minister." Dumbledore was a lot of things, one of which was his small sense of pride of usually being the one in control of the situation, so the fact he had to play along did little to improve his mood. But he hid it behind a gentle smile, after all this was still politics.

"Lovely." Mei absent mindedly fixed her hair, flashing Dumbledore with a smile that would have sent shivers down a lesser man's spine. "Oh~ And before I forget. Do include Draco Malfoy's father in with the invitation. I've heard of his reputation and I believe his assistance would be just lovely."

With that said, Mei turned and left, not giving the old man a chance to argue or get another word in as she slammed the door behind her.

"I'm not the only one getting a sinking feeling from this, am I, old friend?" Dumbledore looked at Fawke who just shrugged. The bird was a bit better at figuring out a person than his master, but even he had trouble. If anything, the red-haired woman reminded him of Molly Weasley. Wasn't sure why, but it was there. So Fawke just shrugged and gave off a warning chirp.

"Yes... deal with caution indeed.." Dumbledore mumbled as he popped a Lemon Drop into his mouth, making a note to get more when he had the chance. He had a gut feeling his sugar addiction would be one of the few things keeping him functioning this year.

* * *

"So, does anyone know why we are here? I have a bloody potions essay to finish!" Ron moaned as he sat down at the Gryffindor table.

"I don't know. Hermione?" Harry glanced at the female member of the Trio, knowing if anyone had an answer, it'd be her.

Hermione just sighed, seriously wishing that her friends paid more attention to what was going on. "Ron, you've had time to do that essay for the past week, the only one to blame is yourself. As for why we are here... It's probably something to do with Haku..."

The boys brightened up at this, before their mood darkened again, they'd seen what the poor girl looked like before she was taken to the Hospital Wing. They boys even had plans to go and see her, in an attempt to cheer her up before Dumbledore called a school-wide assembly in the Great Hall.

"It was that git Draco... you all saw the smirk on his face when Haku left. He looked bloody pleased with himself.." Ron mumbled, getting a nod out of Harry.

"Who it was doesn't matter.. I'm just worried about Haku.. she wasn't looking too good..." Hermione gave the understatement of a century in the boy's minds. Haku looked beyond heartbroken, like her entire world had shattered. Just from a few words from a Boggart.

"What did the Boggart say anyways?"

"Something bout Haku being a useless tool.. or disgusting.. can't remember which.. Oh! And that she should have been left by the road side... wonder what that means..." Ron blurted out, getting a few passing looks from the his house mates before being ignored to talk to their friends.

"Left by the roadside? Did Zabuza abandon her at some point?" Harry asked, a bit of fire in his voice. He didn't really talk to the man at the Weasley's but if he was the type to abandon his own daughter...

"No, you dolts.." Hermione face-palmed, kind of wishing the two of them didn't always need her for an explanation. It's like her only role in this trio was to feed dumb and dumber (they swapped titles on occasion) information that anyone with a working pair of eyes and a functional brain could figure out.

"Haku is adopted.. honestly. How have you two not noticed? She looks nothing like him, so either she takes after her mother, which she doesn't haven't since Mr. Momochi isn't married as far as I know... hopefully." Hermoine finished her sentence quietly with a small cough he boys didn't notice. "Or she was adopted. I'm guessing Kimimaro was also adopted..."

"Well how do you know that?" Ron stared at Hermione, since this was news to him. The fact that Zabuza wasn't Haku's actual father was a surprising bit of news, since honestly, the man scared the shit out of him in a way that reminded him of the basilisk from second year, if not worse. After all, the basilisk was a bigger target, and didn't seem to have arms that could snap his ginger neck like a twig.

"She told me of course... I just asked when we were back at the house..." Hermione smiled, unable to look her friends in the eye at their jealous look. Harry hitting himself for not taking advantage of that time to talk to Haku.

"Thanks Hermione... you could have told us earlier.." Ron grumbled as the last of the staff took their seats at the Head Table, along with two people, both of whom Harry recognized to his dismay.

One was rather short and pudgy, almost fitting for his name sake. Minister Fudge. The others appearance brought a hush over the room, with his tall, thin frame, sharp chin and straight, platinum blonde hair. Lucius Malfoy. And Harry thought this day couldn't get any better, but the universe just loved to prove him right at the worst times.

"What's _he_ doing here...?" Ron whispered quietly, getting a shrug from everyone who heard the question.

"Probably here to bail his Draco out from getting expelled... shame... he'd deserve it for what he did.." Hermione avoided looking in Lucius's direction, though she did notice that the Headmaster of Dumstrang and the Headmistress of Beauxbaton.

"Yah, the prat deserves to get expelled at the le-" Harry cut himself off as Dumbledore walked in, followed by closely behind by Headmistress Terumi. Instead of finishing his sentence, he decided to watch the Headmaster instead, trying to get an idea of what was going on. Dumbledore seemed to notice, turning his head to give the young boy a reassuring smile before stepping up to his podium.

"Afternoon everyone. I am truly sorry for calling you here, but it was at the insistence of the Kirigakure Headmistress who will be taking over from this point." Dumbledore decided the best way to deal with the situation was to sit back and watch. Interfere once he got the facts in order. He already knew young Draco was in some sort of trouble, it was just his job to make sure the damage didn't spill over and hurt the other students.

Mei just flashed a smile as she took Dumbledore's place. "Hello everyone~ It's been a while since we've all been gathered here, but contrary to the headmaster's loving introduction I will not be the one leading this meeting. Oh no, that pleasure will be reserved for my beloved little water demon. Who-" Mei cut herself off, turning her head to the side.

If anything, Mei's smile got bigger, sweeter and a lot crueller if that makes any sense. "Oh, he's right. On. Time."

And at the end of that sentence, with timing most would claim to be scripted, was when hell broke loose. Or more specifically, the doors of the Great Hall were almost kicked off their hinge by a pair of men in rebreathers and full body cloaks, flanking a tall gentleman with bandages covering his face.

Harry took a moment to take in the scene, not quite understanding what he saw. Zabuza was had what looked to the young wizard was a small army behind him. A total of five.. individuals wearing white oval masks with grey cloaks covering up everything else about them, with the trio of Kirigakure boys in the middle of them.

Zabuza seemed less... regal than the first time they'd met. Gone was the blue vest, loose-fitting pants, cape and mesh under-suit, instead he wore baggy grey and white pin-striped pants with little more aside from the bandages that never left his face, but now wore them from arm-pit down to his wrists.

The fact he wore little more than a hat, pants and bandages definitely gave the man an intimidating look. Even under the bandages, Harry could tell he was looking at everyone gathered here with barely held contempt and an anger he didn't care if they saw. What did confuse Harry was the giant scroll on the man's back.

The entirety of the Great Hall went silent, making Zabuza's slow, deliberate footsteps echo even louder as he walked towards the podium.

* * *

Zabuza cracked his neck, loudly, once he reached the podium, mentally sighing as Mei gave him a short respectable bow. He'd definitely be talking to the women once they had a chance.

With that in mind, Zabuza turned to face the crowd, sitting on the podium to over-look the people gathered. A quick check was all he needed to know that everything was going right. He was flanked by a Demon Brother on his left and right, with a Hunter-nim or one of the young members of the Seven in every corner and on every wall.

No one could make a move in this place without a trained killer's eyes on them. Anyone tries something funny, and they'd look like a porcupine from all the swords sticking out of the idiot's corpse.

Zabuza laughed at the thought. He didn't chuckle, or give an amused snort like usual. This was a loud, full-bodied laugh that seemed to shake the hall to its core.

"You wizards are an interesting lot..." Zabuza smiled under his bandages as occupants of the Great Hall breathed a sigh of relief they didn't notice they were holding in. "Now, I am told, it a.. _custom_.. to introduce oneself... seeing as the _brats_ are the only who, don't, know who I am..."

"I have more titles than I will bother wasting my time explaining... but let me be clear. I am, not, someone to anger. I am the Mizukage of Kirigakure... think of me as the equivalent of your... _Minister of Magic._" Zabuza cracked his neck again, grinning as the student's faces dropped again. Oh how enjoyed this game. He could almost feel the fear radiating off the adults.

"All of you are wondering why you are here... Every. Hogwarts. Student. Is. Here. Because, my _child_ was attacked. I was told by the headmaster that the culprit would be properly punished... expelled for such a blatant disrespect to a student's safety... for tormenting a student, to the point they are in the Hospital Ward being treated for a mental breakdown." Zabuza slid of the platform, silencing the whispers as his sandals hit the stone floor with a resounding thud.

"Of course, I have decided to show _mercy_. As I understand it, to be expelled from school as a _wizard._" Zabuza held himself from spitting out the word. "Is a rather extreme punishment. Your wand is snapped, and you are reduced to nothing. Something even a _muggle_ would regard with pity."

He had to chuckle quietly at the look on a few of the faces from the kids, some of the outraged, most filled with dread at the thought of being expelled. Their magic taken away forever. A certain blonde in green-trimmed robes looked as if he was about to vomit, and a whispered message in his earpiece said his father looked to be nearing the boiling point.

"Lower than a _squib_. Or so I'm told. Now I am not cruel, so I'm going to give the culprit a few... _options._" Another crack of the neck to make a point. "Firstly. If the culprit reveals himself _willing_, his punishment will be reduced. If he doesn't, well. We will find him, and he will face the consequences of his actions to the full front of my anger."

Zabuza scanned the audience. "Of course, if anyone wishes to step forward and identify the culprit. Don't let me stop you. You will be thanked and possibly rewarded if your information helps. Now, we will _all_ sit here, for the next five minutes, allowing you _time_ to think. Anything other than _complete_ and _total_ silence will be.. frowned upon."

Having said that, Zabuza pulled a small, clear hourglass with black sand from his pocket, holding it up for the crowd to see, student, staff, visiting wizards and Shinobi before putting it on the podium for all to see. He stepped back, crossing his arms over his chest, not needing to do anything to look intimidating.

Oh how he hoped no one would come forward. In this situation, they'd be stupid to do so. They'd earned the whole school's wrath, and get nothing out of it. And in a very rare show of complete house unity, no one stood up. Harry, Ron and even Hermione gave it a good thought, but something about the glare Zabuza and his men gave them quickly shut that idea down.

* * *

You know that feeling you get? Not the normal ones of everyday life. It's that feeling you get when you see the dragon, and you know the dragon sees you. It's the feeling you get in your gut, just as you realize you put the mermaid scales into the potion instead of the porcupine quills, so you aren't really surprised when it blows up in your face.

That's the feeling Dumbledore was getting now, and it was growing stronger by the moment. Sadly one of the curses of being an old genius is the ability to size up an opponent or situation, which regrettably was doing its job perfectly. Oh how he wished he was young and foolish.

But no, he was an experienced, old wizard. And he didn't get that way by being easy to kill. Still, the fact that everyone in the Great Hall was a group of hostages that they'd basically given these foreigners on a silver platter set him on edge.

He couldn't do anything just this second, but if things go to dragon dung, they'd have to go through him first.

* * *

Time was up, the last few grains of sand had fallen to the bottom and don't let Zabuza's scowl fool you. He was as happy as a man could be when they are contemplating the genocide of an entire group of people. People would call it overkill, but with the shit he'd been putting up with since the first letter, Zabuza was seriously weighing it as a possibility.

The fact that these 'wizards' had the _balls_, the _arrogance_, the _suicidal stupidity_ to attack _one of his men_, _one of his children_, _his unofficial son, his official daughter, his __Haku__._ Oh no. Oooh Kami no. No one attacks the child of a Demon, and walks away without paying flesh for flesh, blood for blood.

It was time to send a message. He'd played soft ball with these proud sacks of shit for too long. Time to show them why he was hailed as the paragon of the Bloody Mist.

"Well. I expected better from the _proud,_ and _noble_ British wizards. Not much better, but I expected at least one of you shitty brats to step forward, be man or women enough to accept their punishment with dignity... after all. One of you _fucks_ attacked Haku." Zabuza's tone went from gruff and reasonable, to ice cold and deadly.

"Zabuza-sama, we are ready to subdue at a moment's notice. Starting phase 2?"

Zabuza gave a subtle nod to Wave, after another crack of his neck.

The entire crowd flinched at the sound.

"Draco Malfoy... get your _stupid, dead ass,_ up here _now._" All eyes went to Draco, who was shaking like a leaf. Mostly his head, going left and right in the universal signal of the word 'No'.

Too bad really. The brat should have said 'No' the moment he thought of starting this stupid plan. Zabuza's grin grew wider, and some of the younger students were starting to feel a bit queasy from the tension. Poor kids, still. If you are going to send a message, send it right. Half-assed measures are a waste of time for everyone involved.

"Now see her-!" Lucius stood up from his seat, just fast enough to get two and three-quarters of a word out before Kimimaro appeared behind him in a puff of mist, slamming the older man's head into the table without a moment's hesitation, before holding him there, one hand in a vice grip on the man's neck, the other holding the wrist of his wand arm in a safe position.

Funny enough, no one saw Kimimaro actually move, but everyone did see him standing in two places. Which was weird, since no one remembered Kimimaro having a twin, or knew of any magic that could make a corporeal, touchable clone.

"You. Will. Shut. Your. Kami. Damned. Mouth. When. Zabuza-sama. Is. Talking. Filth." Hissed the Kimimaro clone grinding Malfoy's face into the woodwork, more than loud enough for everyone in the hall to hear.

Sadly.. well happily enough the wizards were predictable creatures. The subjugation of one of their own set off a chain of reaction that ended up with the entirety of the adult population minus Dumbledore with a bruised forehead, a face full of table, and a dropped wand in some cases, but a completely immobile hand for every wizard stupid enough to make a move.

Zabuza had to raise an eyebrow at some of the older students, mostly Slytherin who'd risen to the defense of the Malfoy patriarch when his son had done nothing but watch. At least some of the pig-headed brats had some semblance of a pair.

So, they were left with about 46 incapacitated Wizards, all made from weak as hell Shadow Clones. Zabuza made a mental note to send Naruto a book of ramen coupons or something for showing Haku the technique. It'd be the least he could do for such an amazing addition to the Mist's arsenal.

"That. Was rather stupid. I don't think you understand the position you Wizards are in-." Zabuza huffed out in annoyance, only to be cut off.

"You will let us go this instant Momochi! You can not hold us like this! Release us now, and I will still consider the possibility of an alliance between our societies!" Fudge roared, his words slightly muffled by the oak... Zabuza guessed it was oak.. table in his face.

The Shadow Clone looked at Zabuza for orders. This was a copy of Storm. One of his favorite among the Hunter-nim. Loyal to a fault, would do everything in her power to succeed the mission while trying to minimize losses and she had a good head on her shoulders. She may not be Mizukage one day, but Zabuza will be damned if doesn't pay her what she deserves for her service.

A small nod, and, Snap.

Fudge screamed in pain, before simply starting to cry quietly. Please. A broken wrist is nothing. The clone's hand's switched positions, the one that was on Fudge's neck previously was now on his injured wrist, giving just enough pressure to remind him of what happened when he spoke out of turn, while the hand that so generously taught the Minister a less moved to grip the man's pudgy neck. Well, hopefully he wouldn't be stupid and lose his right hand as well.

"I, do not enjoy repeating myself, _Minister._ But since you are as brain-dead as I was told, I will say it again. You, do not understand the position _you_ are in. I believe only one wizard in this entire room, completely understands. Headmaster?" Zabuza glared at the Old Man, out of everyone here, he was the big threat.

"Oh, I believe it's my turn to speak?" Dumbledore chuckled out after a moment's hesitation as if he wasn't sure who was being addressed. He knew it was probably worthless to act senile in this situation, but he didn't want to show his cards just yet. "But yes, yes. I believe I do know what is going on. I must ask though. Isn't this rather extreme, my good ma-"

Two kunai dug into the back Albus's chair as Wave and Sleet spoke in unison. "You. Will refer to Mizukage-sama, with his proper title." The 'or else' wasn't said, but it was sure as hell heard.

"Apologies." Dumbledore waved the reminder away as if it was a small fly. "As for what is going on. I do believe Sir Mizukage-sama has the entire school and the head of the Ministry of Magic hostage. In his hands right now, is the _entire_future of Wizarding Britain. Effectively, he could demand the world, and the only thing we could do is try and give it to him. "

Zabuza barked out a laugh at the old nut's explanation, getting a few more flinches from the crowd of students. By now some of the first and second years may or may not need a change of clothes.

"Perfectly said. Now, let's finish my business with the Malfoy brat before I move on to the rest of you bastards." Zabuza turned to face the crowd, eyes pinning Draco to the floor just as he gained the presence of mind to possibly run away.

Lucius's complaint's were quickly and effectively stamped out. Quite literally actually. It took two broken legs and a broken left arm to shut the man up, but still. He kept quiet as one of Island's Shadow Clone's threw his son on his knees before the monster that seemed to have gained complete control of Hogwarts.

"Brat... I have evidence that you are the son of a bitch, who left my child traumatized. Are you going to be stupid enough to deny that claim?" Zabuza's eyes stared into the young boy's, who saw his life flash before his eyes. It was a sad, spoiled and kind of pathetic life if the blonde had to admit it. Especially if it was going to end like this.

"No.. sir- Mizukage-sama!" Draco quickly amended, hoping to whatever god who'd listen he'd walk out of this alive. "I-I-Iiii-ii-t, was me..." The Slytherin wanted to look anywhere else, but he couldn't tear himself away from the older man's gaze. He saw monster's reflected back at him, and enough blood to drown in.

"Good... now you have a choice of punishment." Draco gulped, guessing he wouldn't be enjoying anything set out before him. "Firstly, you can choose execution." What little blood was left in Draco's face drained to the bottom of his boots, the faint protests and plea's from Lucius fell on deaf ears of both his son and his possible executioner. Draco did hear another bone snap. If it was anyone else, he'd wonder how many bones these monster's had left to break.

"Secondly, you, your father, and your entire line will pay a total of a nine-hundred and ninety-nine trillion Galleon in damages to Haku for your actions." Zabuza knew it was a bullshit number, and he didn't care. So far the options in plain terms for the boy was immediate execution, or selling himself and his entire family into slavery, since even the Malfoy's didn't have that much money. Hell, Gringotts probably didn't have that much money.

"And the third option.. Mizukage-sama..?" Draco croaked out eventually. To say he regretted he was ever born was an understatement at this point.

"Expulsion from Hogwarts, exile from Wizarding and Muggle Britain, exile from the wizarding world in general and a promise to never willingly use magic again." Some may say that was the easy choice, the one saving grace amount the pile of shit offered up instead. Those people wouldn't be pure-blood wizards, who magic was quite literally in the blood. It was who they were at their very core.

To those people death was the preferable option. Zabuza was almost curious what the shit stain of a brat would pick.

Zabuza cracked his neck again, drawing back everyone's attention. At this point, there wasn't a wizard in the room that didn't have a feeling of dread going down their spine, and hell, even Ronald Weasley was feeling a drop of dare he say it pity for the blonde twat.

"You have a few minutes to decide while I deal with another piece of _filth._" Draco was grabbed by the shoulders by a masked Shadow Clone, before being dragged back to the center of the room, on display for everyone to watch if they so desired as he made his decision.

"Now, _Minister._ I believe it is your turn to have your options presented to you."

Wave's Shadow Clone stood the shaken wizard up, half marching, half dragging the blubbering mess to kneel before Zabuza.

"Minister.. I read your.._terms_ earlier today.. and I find them unsatisfactory... a bit of advice for future dealings with an unknown civilization. Think before you act. You know _nothing_ about my country, about how our system works, what 'magic' we have at our disposal, _nothing. _You didn't even wonder if this could have possibly been an ambush. It's rather disgusting that someone as _useless_ and chicken-shitted as you was given a role of leadership. If you were born in my village, I would have you scrubbing toilets for the Academy brats."

Zabuza glared at the mass of flesh before him. He refused to call it a man, since a man had some semblance of dignity. The thing before him was simply, quietly begging for his life. It was rather sad.

"Grow a spine, you piece of shit." Zabuza said, giving Fudge a half-hearted kick to the ribs to get him out of his fear induced stupor. He wanted to use full strength, but killing the man at this point would just be detrimental to his efforts.

"Bout damn time." Zabuza growled. "Now, here are my _terms._ And do _not._ Misunderstand. You have the _option_ if refusing them, but there will be consequences. Very big, and messy, consequences."

Fudge just nodded along, at this point it was the only thing he could do. He just wanted the pain to stop. Today was supposed to be a normal day, do some paperwork, have a pleasant lunch and iron out some details with the foreign wizards, come back to do some more paperwork, go home by seven to a nice dinner and a stiff drink before turning in for the night. None of this was planned.

"I'll keep it simple for now. After all, I do not wish to embarrass you in front of your peers and citizens. You will swear an oath on your life... oh yes. I know all about an Unbreakable vow. You will swear loyalty to the Mizukage and the Mist. We can work out specifics on another day."

Fudge just nodded again, getting another glare from Zabuza who tilted his head. "Dumbledore. You will be the witness and Bonder for this oath. I am tired of you fucking Wizards screwing us around. First, your damn incompetent government can't even give a diplomatic party proper lodgings. Second, your security is so terrible I had to intervene to stop those damn fools at your stupid world cup."

Zabuza rolled his shoulder, muscles flexing. "Then you try to screw me over with plain and simple diplomacy? I was willing to play nice, stay friends and all that crap. But one of you crossed the line. And I don't give a _fuck_ it was just one. One of you attacked without provocation one of my men, specifically my oldest child. That, was the cut off point. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. The only one's to blame for this is your own arrogance. And let this be a warning to all of you. Any other unprovoked attacks will be dealt with swiftly and officially."

Dumbledore stood up, disgusted with himself for the slight spark of admiration for the man in front of him. He was willing to completely destroy a child's life and forever damage diplomatic relations between two nations for the sake of protecting his own people. That was one of the most ruthless forms of love he'd ever seen in his life and he had to give it a certain amount of respect for the fire he saw in the man's eyes.

Placing his wand on top of the interlocked right hands of Zabuza and Fudge, the old wizard muttered the incantation before giving Zabuza a small nod to proceed.

"Will you, Cornelius Fudge, swear your loyalty to Kirigakure and the Mizukage until freed from this bond?"

"I will." One strand of light.

"Will you complete every assignment you are given to the best of your abilities?"

"I will." Two strands.

"Will you periodically check for new assignments?"

"I will." Three stands.

"Good. Now take your seat and shut up." Zabuza let go of Fudge's hand, letting the pudding of a man stumble away.

"Dumbledore, stay here. There is more to do." Zabuza was never one for loose ends. "Kimimaro." The Shadow Clone nodded before picking up Lucius's limp but conscious form. From the look on the blonde's face, he had a good guess about what was going to happen to him. Might have been the fact his right arm was the only uninjured limb on his body.

"Alright Malfoy. Your turn. Your choices. Accept my vows and I might grant your son some leniency in whichever punishment he chooses."

"I.. yes.. Mizukage-sama..." This was for Draco. This wasn't about him, about the Malfoy pride. This was about his only son. One of the few things he truly cared about in the world. If he had to make a deal with the devil to save the boy, by Merlin's beard he'd fucking do it.

"Good." Zabuza took hold of the patriarch's right hand in his own before glancing at Dumbledore who started the incantation again.

"Will you, Lucius Malfoy, swear to never again harm a member of Kirigakure, knowingly?"

"I swear.."

"You will not take any action against whoever you believe to have given us evidence to your son's guilt?"

"I.. I swear."

"You will never share the identity of the person who gave us evidence by any means to anyone under any circumstances?"

"I swear."

"You will hinder any and every investigation into that person's identity?"

"I swear..." Lucius was starting to get irritated again, watching any and everyone possible route of vengeance cut down before him.

"You will never knowingly aid in any action taken to harm someone related by blood or by bond to the witness?"

"I swear..." Lucius ground out.

"Finally, you swear your loyalty and the loyalty of your house to the Mizukage and Kirigakure?"

"I..swear." Six lines of burning fire wrapped around the 'ex' Death Eater arm as the vow was made.

"Good, now take your seat.." Zabuza glared down at the man. The Death Eater had been with Voldemort at the height of his power, but even the Dark Lord didn't command the fear Lucius felt gripping his heart at the moment. The Dark Lord had been flesh and bone after all, still human for all his cruelties. This man before in the bandages wasn't human. He was a demon made flesh.

"_Brat. _Your decision?" Zabuza's gaze swept back to Draco, who was standing a bit taller. He'd seen his father's bravery.. or at least what was in the boy's eyes as bravery, and he wasn't going to let the man down by setting a bad example. He'd face death with dignity.

Draco walked to his place in front of his executioner, able to meet the man's eyes out of little more than childish pride that it'd be one last insult. "Execution. I would sooner die a wizard on my feet, than live as a slave or filth."

Zabuza grinned and barked out another harsh laugh. "Finally.. a wizard with a spine.. shame you just got it now. It won't last you long... due to your father's actions, you will not suffer.."

* * *

Dumbledore was about to step forward to protect the boy, consequences be damned before Zabuza caught his eye with a look. It was a look that said 'try it, honestly. I won't hurt the kid if you do.' Now he had to just figure out what 'it' was...

Took him half a second.. before it hit him like a ton of bricks. It was a stupid idea, but it was the only one he had. Meeting Zabuza's gaze, Dumbledore had to suppress his emotions as best as he could before he gave anything away.

The old wizard knew exactly what he was going to do once this fiasco was over. He was going to make sure every student in the hall and some of the adults got a calming drought in their systems before going to his room, drain an entire bottle of fire whiskey and laugh himself into a coma or something.

* * *

With that out-of-the-way, Zabuza turned his full attention back to the brat, who probably though he was deliberating on exactly how to kill him.

"Hold out your right arm. I've found a rather fitting way to kill you... poetic almost..." Draco complied, feeling his hand get encased in Zabuza's much larger fist.

Another nod from the ninja got Dumbledore enchanting for the third time in a row.

"Draco Malfoy, you have been sentenced to execution. Do you accept your punishment?"

"Yes..." Draco wasn't sure how this was going to kill him, but in the back of his mind, the Slytherin gave the man a small nod for originality. Least Draco would go down in the history books as the first wizard intentionally killed by an unbreakable vow.

"Will you, as soon as you are informed and as soon as Haku is willing to accept your presence, kneel before Haku and beg for her forgiveness?"

The gathering of wizards collectively blinked, then blinked again.

"I... um.. I swear." Draco really wasn't in a position to say no.

"Will you swear to attempt to change your ways?"

"I swear.." At this point Draco was on automatic, just trying to figure out what was going on.

"Good. That'll be enough." Zabuza let go of Draco's arm, allowing the magic to take over before stretching, blatantly ignoring the looks he was being treated to. The most prevalent of which was pure bewilderment.

"Um.. Mizukage-sama?" Draco had to ask, it was stupid of him to do so, after he was given a chance to continue living, but he was curious. Now to hope he didn't end up like the cat.

"Yes, brat?" Zabuza's tone had lost its cold edge, going back to the standard gruff annoyance he always felt when talking.

"I.. um.. Sir? Wasn't I to be executed?"

The Mizukage snorted as he crossed his arms over his chest. "There are many ways to kill a man. Cut off his head, and you kill the body. Torture him past the point of sanity, you kill the mind. Change a man and you kill the person. I am not one for executing children . But do not forget the fear you felt, use it as a learning opportunity to better yourself.. just don't forget what you swore to... now go take a seat brat.."

Draco nodded, not sure what else he could do before being slowly guided back to his seat.

"You as well Headmaster.." Dumbledore just walked back to his place, his smile back in place as Zabuza snapped his finger's.

The various ninja followed the signal and released their various hostages from their grip. "Ladies and Gentleman, let this be a lesson to _all_ of you. We are as strong, if not stronger than you. And we are _very_ protective of our own. Do not _fuck_ with us and we will not _fuck_ with you."

"Now scram." Zabuza turned his back to the stunned students, his glare now focused on the adults, who didn't seem much better off. Only Flitwick, Snape and McGonagall had a spark of defiance left in their eyes. Good.

* * *

"What, the bloody hell was that!?" Ron nearly shouted once they were out of the Hall.

**AN: Well, I had some free time and was in the giving mood since it's thanksgiving for the canadian so yay?~ Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and I will see you all later. :)**


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